The Seal of Silent Hill
by Crimson1
Summary: Sam, Dean, and Castiel go to Silent Hill. Set during Season 4 of Supernatural, Castiel sent Sam and Dean to investigate the location of a seal about to be broken. Little do they know what horrors await them. Horror/Gen, with multiple endings!
1. Part 1 Dean

THE SEAL OF SILENT HILL - _Now revised and edition for your continued reading pleasure_

_Part 1 - Dean  
_

* * *

Sam and Dean had been doing their best to say 'how high' every time the angels said 'jump'. This was the end of the world they were talking about; a little deference was allowable if it meant they kept one of the 66 seals from breaking.

It was easier to respect and trust Castiel than Uriel, however. At least Castiel tried to be courteous, explained things on occasion, and treated them like more than just the lowest forms of life on Earth.

Dean was glad Uriel would not be joining them this time.

They were headed to some middle of nowhere town by Toluca Lake—and not the Hollywood Toluca Lake with all the famous people living around it, either. This Toluca Lake wasn't even on the map, not any Dean or Sam could find. All Castiel had told them was how to get there.

"And Cas is going to meet us?" asked Sam. He was staring anxiously at the map they _did_ have that seemed to have a lot of empty space at the location they were headed.

Dean had been following the speed limit for the last twenty miles since they had hit small town after small town. Local fuzz had a tendency to stop cars they didn't know. "That's what he said. What, you thought he'd hang in the backseat the whole way?" Dean smirked.

Sam shot him a look.

"Aw, lighten up, Sammy," Dean reached across and smacked Sam's thigh, "We're s'pposed to lie low til he comes anyway, just get a feel for this place. No seal protecting yet. You remember Cas said he wasn't sure about this one, all vague and hard to get a feel for. Wasn't even sure what the seal _was_. He was gonna check into some more of the lore before joining us, that's all. We'll just pull into the first motel we see in one of the towns around Toluca Lake and camp out til Cas comes."

"I guess," Sam shrugged, at last giving up on the map since it wasn't really any use, and stuffing it back into the glove box, "We're almost there, right? What towns are there?"

"I've seen a few signs. Looks like Paleville's closest. We'll stop there. Couple miles yet." Dean turned the radio up a few notches as he drove. He had one of his Styx tapes in.

_Welcome to the grand illusion  
Come on in and see what's happening  
Pay the price, get your tickets for the show_

Dean was thinking that it would be nice to have a quiet night, order some pizza or get some burgers and just stay in, him and his brother, like how it used to be when there weren't lies and empty time between them.

_So if you think your life is complete confusion  
Because you never win the game  
Just remember that its a grand illusion  
And deep inside we're all the same.  
We're all the same..._

Halfway into the song, the tape started fritzing, cutting out like a scratch on a CD. Only this was a _cassette_, and if a tape was going haywire then it meant a lot worse than just a smudge or scratch.

Dean frantically pressed buttons for a moment, hoping it was a fluke and that the song would kick back in. But when that did nothing but cause a few telling squeals, he cursed and hit EJECT. "Shit, don't tell me you ate the tape, baby, I love this one," he muttered.

"Eyes on the _road_, Dean," Sam scolded, pulling out the tape for Dean and reeling in string after string of ruined ribbon.

"Sonuvabitch," Dean growled, "Last time she ate a tape was when we were in grade school for chrissake. It's coz you had to mess with it while I was gone and put in that damn adaptor thing for your iPod."

"_Dean_," Sam rolled his eyes, always playing along whenever they talked about Dean's time in Hell as simply 'being gone', "The car is 40 years old. It needs a new stereo. The adaptor didn't do anything. Just turn on the radio for a change."

A frustrated huff passed Dean's lips. "In Bumfuck, Nowhere I'm sure I'll find _loads_ of selection," he spat, watching spitefully as Sam tossed the destroyed tape into the back, "Forget it. There's the turn for Paleville," Dean noted and got ready to take the exit.

"Wait, Dean," Sam brought a hand up to the dashboard, "There's a detour." And in fact there were several signs steering them away from the exit and from Paleville.

"Great. Damn road construction," Dean muttered, following the detour to the neighboring town, "Guess we're staying in Silent Hill tonight instead."

Half a mile passed the dimly lit sign 'Welcome to Silent Hill' there was a figure in the middle of the road. Sam called out. Dean swerved. And the world slipped into darkness that later lightened only as bright as ash.

tbc...

* * *

A/N: I started this on Livejournal as a bunny from a friend. If you're a "Silent Hill" movie fan there will be some surprises as I'm staying closer to the games. Thanks for reading! And please, please leave a review to comment.

Crim


	2. Part 2 Sam

_Part 2 – Sam_

* * *

Sam awoke plastered against his door, held in place by his seat belt and feeling like his head was about to pound open. The last car accident he had been in played through his mind and he grimaced. At least swerving off the road was better than being jackknifed by a demon-driven semi.

"Dean…" Sam croaked, pushing away from where his face had been pressed to the window, his mouth bitter with the taste of copper, "Dean, are you…are you okay?"

There was a groan in reply, which at least meant that Dean was alive and coming around to consciousness. Sam blinked a few times before turning to his brother, who still had his hands gripping the steering wheel and looked as though he had slammed forward into it if the slightly wrecked appearance of Dean's nose was any indication. At least it didn't look broken.

"What happened?" Sam moved slowly to undo his seatbelt so he could better check on Dean.

Dean let out another groan, peeling his fingers from the steering wheel and falling back heavily in his seat. "Don't know," he said, "Someone in the road, I thought. Tried to avoid 'em. Next thing I know…I got a damn ringing in my ear and my baby's lying across the road." He pressed the butt of his palm to his temple, no doubt having the same splitting headache as Sam. They had to be careful in case of concussion, but staying on the road didn't sound so hot either.

"We should keep going. Try to get to a hotel, rest and make sure we don't need a hospital. You sure you're okay, Dean?" Sam asked again, one hand resting over Dean's arm while the other went for Dean's chest to pat him down and check for broken ribs.

A dismissive wave of Dean's hand put an end to that, knocking Sam's offered help away. "I'm fine. Just banged up, Sammy, no serious injury. Let's get outta here."

Sam sighed but obliged, folding himself back fully into his own seat and reaching to put on his seat belt again. It wasn't like he was a stranger to his brother refusing help. "I wonder how long we were out. There doesn't seem to be anybody else on the road. I don't see anyone who might have been our phantom either," Sam said in regards to whoever had made them swerve, staring out the window at what looked like…fog? There hadn't been fog before.

"Don't say phantom," Dean said, starting up the engine, "In our line of work that might be true."

It was a weak try for humor to make up for how Dean knew that brushing off a helping hand always bothered Sam a little. Sam might have smiled at the comment too if not for the stale dead failure of the Impala's engine.

"Shit," Dean slammed a hand into the steering wheel when the car wouldn't start, "Musta thrown something outta whack in the accident. Probably just knocked something loose. Hang on," he huffed, throwing open his door and stepping out into the night.

Something about that fog made it too bright outside, and for a moment Sam had a sinking feeling that it was already daybreak. A quick glance at his watch told him otherwise, they had only been out a handful of minutes, but Sam still felt unsettled watching Dean disappear into a grey haze as he went to pop open the Impala's hood.

A second later Sam was unbuckling his seatbelt again and stepping out of the car to join his brother. The first thing Sam noticed was that this was no fog. Little grey flakes were falling all around them, filling the air with a rancid smell of sulfur and smoke. It was snowing ash.

"What the hell is this?" Sam said, catching a few flakes in his hand and crushing them with his fingers to reveal the black soot within, "It's everywhere, _god_, I can barely breathe out here."

"Tell me something I don't know," Dean mumbled from beneath the hood, "Must be a fire somewhere. Gimme a hand here, Sammy."

It was so rare an occasion that Dean actually asked for help when looking at the engine, that Sam instinctively obeyed, happy for the slight shield the hood made from the falling ash. "It would have to be one helluva fire to create this kind of fallout," Sam said, placing his hand where Dean indicated, though he wasn't exactly sure what Dean was having him do, "I mean, the whole town would have to be burning. I can't even see two feet in front of me."

"Maybe it's a coal fire," Dean fiddled around, tightening and loosening things, and looking all-around agitated that nothing was what he wanted it to be, "You know how that shit burns. Bad enough coal fire could last forever."

"You don't think…" Sam trailed, sobered suddenly.

"Seal already broke?" Dean glanced up, one eyebrow raised in question.

"Let's hope not."

"Damn it," Dean cursed, kicking the bumper as he stepped back from the car, "There's nothing. Not a damn thing wrong with her. What gives?" He cursed again, barely waiting for Sam to remove his arm before slamming the hood shut and stalking back to his door.

Rather than go back to his own door, Sam followed Dean, listening to the pathetic rumbles and whirs that never quite got up to a roar. The engine still wouldn't start. "Maybe it's something you missed," Sam shrugged.

Dean cast Sam a hard glare. "I don't _miss_ shit about my baby. I know her inside and out. _Nothing_ is wrong with her. There is no reason she shouldn't start." Dean tried again. Again. After about five more failures, Sam was getting pretty damn agitated too.

"Look, Dean, there's no one even around. Let's just try walking and see if we can find something. We passed the town sign, it can't be far. We'll just tow the car to town for now until we can figure this out in the daylight. Why don't I call Bobby? He knows all these nowhere towns. Maybe he knows the number for a tow place or mechanic around here."

"I am not letting some screwball mechanic lay his hands on my car," Dean grumbled, continuing his fruitless efforts to start the engine.

Sam just rolled his eyes and took out his cell. He dialed Bobby's number and waited. It wasn't all that late. If Bobby could look up a number for them, a tow place would have to be open still.

"Hey, Bobby," Sam began when the other line picked up. The phone crackled back at him with hard static, the faintness of a voice barely coming through. "_Bobby_?" Sam said a little louder, "It's Sam, can you hear me?" More static, though Sam was certain he could almost pick up Bobby's voice on the other end. "Look, Bobby, if you can hear me just try calling me or Dean back. We're stuck outside this town, Silent Hill. The car won't start and we can't see a thing in front of our faces. If you know—" The static was getting so loud and garbled that Sam could barely stand to keep his ear to the phone. He gave up and flipped his cell shut again. "Damn it."

"Bad reception?" Dean looked up at him seriously, "Well don't this just get better and better. _Fuck_," he slammed a hand into the steering wheel again, harder this time so that it even made Sam cringe, "I don't like the idea of just leaving the car out in the middle of the road while we take a fucking _walk_."

Just as frustrated, but trying to keep his calm, Sam ran a hand back through his longer locks and sighed. "Well, we don't have much of a choice, Dean. Faster we get moving, faster we can get back to the car and get her somewhere safe. Okay? Let's just go."

Dean remained in the driver's seat for another minute, no doubt thinking up ways to counteract Sam's logic, but coming up with none. Finally, he pulled the keys and got out of the car, slamming the door shut and locking her up good and tight. "I swear to god, if someone steals this car…"

"Come on, Dean," Sam grabbed his brother's arm and tugged him toward the trunk so they could grab a few extra weapons before heading out, just in case.

Once they were loaded up, Sam tugged on Dean again, leading them down the road no matter how reluctant Dean might be to leave the Impala behind.

"Seriously, Dean," Sam said, "How bad could a little exercise be?"

tbc...


	3. Part 3 Dean

_Part 3 – Dean_

* * *

This whole 'seal in the middle of nowhere' crap totally sucked. Dean had half a mind to scream for Cas until his throat throbbed, but figured it wouldn't do any good when the angel had already promised to come to them as soon as it was _Heavenly_ possible. It just really bit the big one right now that it was only Dean and Sam and an apparently empty wasteland of grey.

"Do we have any idea where we are?" Sam asked, clearly antsy judging by his shuffling way of walking, continuing along the seemingly abandoned road toward a town they weren't even sure actually existed for all the ash falling around them.

"The longest town street in all the Midwest?" Dean kicked at a rock in the road.

"Are we even _in_ the Midwest?"

"Hell if I know, I was just following Cas' directions. We passed Nebraska at some point, didn't we?"

Sam just sighed. "Doesn't your phone have GPS?"

Dean could swear they had already had this conversation. "No signal, remember? No signal means no GPS, and I doubt it would help us anyway when this place isn't even on the map. It'd probably show up as a big grey blob. Kinda like our current surroundings," he grumbled, "We gotta be getting to town soon."

"Dean, look!" Sam shouted excitedly, pointing ahead at what finally looked like civilization looming out of the ash—a building.

"Halleluiah," Dean pulled his hands from his pockets, making a quick inventory of the weapons on his person. He and Sam were pretty well equipped right now. There shouldn't be any problems, but they didn't know if the seal had already been broken or not, and if it had then this place might be swarming with who knows what. That might also explain the ash in the air, but Dean was still hoping it was just a coal fire and that they had time yet to stop whatever Lilith's plans were for this place.

Just a little ways further the building came into clearer view. There weren't any cars around, but the place might have a landline so they could get a tow for the Impala and get this nightmare over with.

Dean squinted at the building as they walked up to the door. It looked in good enough shape and all, but it gave Dean the willies just standing in front of it and Dean Winchester did not get spooked easily.

"Silent Hill Historical Society," Sam read off the sign by the door, "Damn. Closed at eight. We'll have to keep going."

"Hang on now, maybe someone's still home." Dean tried the door hopefully, or maybe _apprehensively_, since he was still weirded out in general.

The door was locked.

Dean really hated the idea of having to keep walking along that endless road through snowfalls of ash. He pounded on the door a couple of times before finally giving up. It was obvious no one was inside.

"Damn. Fine. Let's keep on then," he turned back to the road.

"I'm sure the rest of the town's right ahead, Dean," Sam offered, following along beside him.

Sam looked greyed-out from all the soot covering his clothing and skin. Dean knew he looked the same.

They needed to get inside soon or the ash was going to start seriously messing with them. It couldn't be good for their lungs, though for some reason Dean had already gotten used to the smell, and didn't really feel like his breathing was labored.

The sudden sound of static coming from Dean's closed and pocketed cell phone made him jump. In the same moment, barely visible in Dean's periphery, a shadow caught his attention back around the side of the Historical Society.

Dean stopped, peering hard into the grey to see if something was actually there. He couldn't see anything other than falling ash, but there had definitely been a shadow a moment ago.

"Dean?" Sam walked back to him after realizing Dean had stopped.

"Check for EMF, Sammy," Dean said, not taking his eyes off the spot he had seen movement, "I got a bad feeling about this place."

Sam gave a false laugh, immediately complying and pulling out the EMF meter from his jacket. "Gee, can't imagine why that might be," he snarked.

Dean's mood was not lightened, and he didn't feel any better about their situation when Sam flipped on the device and it almost immediately started sparking, lights going haywire until Sam actually dropped it when it shorted out with several visible shocks going off in his hand.

"_Fuck_," Sam shook out his fingers, shuddering, probably from that 'I just peed on an electric fence' feeling that was no doubt trembling through his veins, "What the hell? It's busted."

Dean swallowed. "Or overloaded," he said gravely.

He and Sam shared a knowing look.

"Okay," Dean grabbed Sam's arm and started pulling him back down the road in the direction they had come from, "We need to get out of here. _Now_."

"But _Dean_," Sam protested, even as he was being dragged along, "The car won't start. What are we supposed to do? Walk all the way back and then keep going until we hit another town?"

"Paleville's not far. Detour won't stop walkers."

"We're almost to town!"

"And it might be fully infested with spooks and other nasty things, you think of that?" Dean whirled on his brother, "If the seal's already broken, that could be Hell on Earth central over there. You wanna try knocking on doors and see if the nice demons wanna play?"

Sam scowled at him. "I'm just saying, Dean, we're not exactly helpless. We have weapons. It might be faster to see what's up there, and maybe we'll find a working phone, or a tow place, or maybe there's not even anything wrong and—"

"The EMF meter exploded in your hand, Sam!" Dean tossed his hands up into the air, "We're going back to the car. I'll try a couple more times to get her going, and if she still won't start then we'll walk to Paleville. At the very least maybe we can get out of this ash cloud. Okay?"

The petulant look on Sam's face said he wanted to argue some more, but to Dean's extreme relief and surprise, Sam just gave a terse nod before shoving his hands in his pockets and heading on down the road again. It was about time Sam actually listened to him.

They walked in relative silence back to the car. Silences like that used to be comfortable, but these days it was just...awkward. Dean hated that.

When they reached the Impala, she still wouldn't start, just whirred and wheezed like a sick dog, until Dean was so angry he was afraid he might take it out on his baby, and that just wasn't acceptable. They locked the Impala up again and headed away from Silent Hill toward Paleville.

It was about the time they were nearing the 'Welcome to Silent Hill' sign that Dean started feeling nauseous. He couldn't believe it, _wouldn't_ believe it, but something was definitely not right about what lay ahead of them.

"Sammy…"

They came to a sudden stop just passed the sign. There was no more road. Nowhere to go. The pavement fell away, ending in a rocky cliff that dropped off into nothing, as if they had reached the end of the world.

"I don't mean to be the bearer of bad news here or anything, Sam, but…I think we are royally screwed."

tbc...


	4. Part 4 Sam

_Part 4 – Sam_

* * *

Sam took a shotgun from the trunk, eyes carefully watching the grey haze around them as both he and Dean loaded up with extra weapons.

Dean tried once again to get the car to start once they had more equipment. Not like it mattered. All it would mean was that they could drive _into_ Silent Hill, but not out. The edge of the town limits fell away into nothing, trapping them indefinitely.

"It has to be a spell. A curse. Something," Sam mumbled to himself, guarding Dean with his back to Dean's open door while the Impala's engine failed again and again to do anything other than rev pitifully. "Even if this is because the seal's broken there has to be a way out."

"We better pray there is," Dean spat through clenched teeth, giving up and pushing on Sam's back to get him to move out of the way. Dean got out of the car and slammed his door, not bothering to lock the car this time. "Whatever's going on, we gotta move forward. We can't hang around like sitting ducks hoping Cas will show up."

"Maybe if you tried calling for him again," Sam shifted from foot to foot. He had never felt quite so defeated and without options, being trapped like this, not since Dean had been shredded by hellhounds and all Sam could do was bury the body.

Dean sighed, readying his own shotgun, other weapons conveniently tucked about his person, just like Sam. "Doesn't always work that way, Sammy. For all we know…maybe he can't hear me here."

"But he was going to meet us here anyway," Sam countered, "He has to show up eventually."

"Meanwhile, sitting around just means whatever beasties are out there have a better chance of ambushing us. I say we get to town, see what there is to find, and maybe there's a place we can hold up, maybe there's a phone, maybe there's a damn Big Bad to kill, even, that'll turn this whole mess around. Let's just get going." Dean started off immediately down the road.

Sam was feeling the worst kind of déjà vu, but he didn't bother saying any 'I told you so' remarks about them heading back into town. It was good they had gone back to the car, good that they knew something bad was up. It just didn't feel all that _good_ right now.

"Maybe the seal's part of a Bermuda Triangle sorta thing," Sam said, "A worm hole or—"

"Don't get started with your Mystery Spot shit again," Dean shot back.

Sam scowled. "I'm just trying to think through this, Dean. There has to be an explanation."

Tension was high, as usual, and being trapped like this, anxious and cut off, just made it worse. To top it all off they were hungry. Dean was never in a good mood when he was hungry.

But to Sam's surprise, Dean didn't snap back a response. Instead he looked over, patient, like he was honestly _trying_, and said, "I like the cursed spot idea. Could be that. Might be why there's a seal here, coz it'd be easier to hide. We find the heart of this place and sanctify it, maybe we can undo the whole thing. Hopefully, Cas will show up along the way and help us out."

Sam knew what Dean was doing. He was trying to ease his little brother, make the big bad boogie man seem less daunting. Sometimes Sam really didn't mind that Dean looked at him like he was still a little boy. "Yeah. We just gotta keep our eyes open," Sam offered a small smile.

Dean returned it, and the silence was less uncomfortable as they made their way back down the road, shotguns at the ready in case any shadows leapt out of the ash. Dean had told Sam that he thought he had seens movement before the EMF meter exploded. There was definitely something out there, even if they couldn't see it now.

They reached the Historical Society again, passed the remains of their busted device, and kept on going. There were no shadows moving this time, but the brothers were ready, eyes trained like veteran soldiers to catch even the barest movement.

Sam felt better having Dean beside him. He couldn't imagine being in this place alone. The ash wasn't letting up at all.

"I think we're coming up on something else," Dean said, quietly now, since they were wary of alerting any baddies. The Historical Society was well behind them now, but there was definitely a building up ahead.

"Pete's Bowl-O-Rama," Sam read the sign as the building came into view, letting every bit of ironic disgust show through in his tone, "Oh, this place is a regular Green Acres."

Dean huffed. "I bet they have town picnics and a Carnival for 4th of July too," Dean played along.

"Check the door?"

"Smart to get the best lay of the land we can," Dean nodded.

They reached the building, but just like the Historical Society, the bowling alley's door was locked. Sam knocked a few times, wondering if maybe there might be townspeople around, even if there was a demonic presence, but no sounds of movement echoed back to them from inside.

There was nothing to do but continue on.

"There's another building across the street," Sam nodded ahead, squinting through the dingy grey cloud that covered the entire town.

They walked the few steps passed the bowling alley to an intersection, the first time they had come upon another street. Sam glanced up at the signs. They had been walking along Nathan Avenue. Rather lackluster for a demonic hotspot, really. The turn at the intersection led right, down Carroll Street. There didn't seem to be anything special about their surroundings at all.

"Well, let's keep going," Sam offered.

"_Sam_." Dean's voice was stiff, a strong grip reaching out to clutch Sam's jacket and hold him in place.

Sam turned back to his brother, seeing that Dean's eyes were wide and focused downward. Following Dean's line of sight, Sam stared at the pavement beneath them, and any comments choked off dry in his throat.

Blood. There was blood all over the street in large, thick streaks as if a body had been torn apart and dragged off into the ash.

"_Jesus_," Dean took a breath that heaved in his chest.

"The other building," Sam suggested, "If it's locked, I say we break in and take the time to think this through. We don't even know what we're dealing with."

"Yeah," Dean swallowed visibly, looking up at Sam with a weak try for a smirk, "Wouldn't want to get eaten right as the hunt's starting, yeah?"

Sam allowed what amount of humor he had left to bleed into his expression. "At least they'd go for you first. With the way you eat there's bound to be extra fat," he teased.

"_What_?" Dean looked honestly offended. "You're twice my size!" he shot back, "They'd only eat me first if they were saving you for the main course, _Jumbo_. Fat, my ass," he grumbled, "I'm nothing but lean sexy muscle."

Sam suppressed a laugh. "Sure, Dean. Whatever you say."

"Bitch," Dean muttered under his breath.

At last, something felt normal. Safe. Sam was all set to throw back his customary response too as they made their way slowly across the street to reach the next building—which proved to be a Texxon Gas Station—when movement right in front of the doors brought Sam to a sudden stop. "_Dean_," he hissed.

"I see it," Dean whispered back.

Weapons raised, they approached more cautiously, starting to make out what looked like a person shuffling toward them. It was hard to see through the haze of falling ash, but whatever that thing was it was definitely more than a shadow.

A sudden crackling of static from Dean's pocket almost had Sam jumping out of his skin. Dean stuttered in his steps too, taking a moment to pause, reach into his pocket and pull out his cell phone. Sam had left his in the car.

"It did this last time I saw something," Dean hissed, as if just remembering.

They both stared ahead again at the approaching figure—definitely _approaching_, not just hovering by the gas station doors.

In extreme cases, cell phones and other electronics could react like EMF detectors, if the signal was strong enough. Considering the actual EMF meter blew itself to bits, it was probably safe to say that the signals in this place were _strong_.

And right now they were coming from the creature in front of them.

"Hey, ugly," Dean called, "Don't think we won't shoot."

Sam readied his weapon, but practically choked on his tongue when he got a real good look at the thing coming at them with slow, halting steps. "Dean…" Sam was starting to feel nauseous, "I don't think it can hear you."

"Why not?"

Swallowing, Sam tried to keep his pulse steady. "It doesn't have _ears_."

Ugly was an understatement. The thing in front of them wasn't even really a person. It had a human shape, but it was naked, covered in sickly brown skin, its head bald and faceless. Its legs were mostly normal, but its arms were wrapped around its body like a straight jacket made out of its own skin. Sam had never seen anything like it.

Dean fired, out of nowhere just _fired_, catching the thing somewhere near its midsection and toppling it to the ground.

"Dean!" Sam shouted, staring at his brother incredulously.

"What?" Dean looked back at him, "I'm pretty sure this is a shoot first, ask questions later kinda moment, Sam. That thing didn't have a freaking face!"

While Sam, for the most part, agreed with Dean's reasoning for shooting, he still had to act a little affronted at the lack of warning. They didn't even know what they were dealing with. "Is it dead?" Sam asked rather than further the argument. He didn't actually want to go and check. It wasn't in the Winchesters' nature to be squeamish around supernatural creatures, but this was new territory.

"Let's just—" Dean began as he turned to look back at the thing, but he cut off and his eyes widened in horror.

Sam didn't want to look. He _really_ didn't want to look. But he had to. When he did there was nothing, no sign the creature had even existed save a smear of dark blood. "Dean…"

"Where the hell did it go?" Dean whirled around, shotgun ready to fire again. They moved so they were back to back, checking their surroundings carefully. The only problem with this usually surefire tactic was that they couldn't see more than a few feet in front of their faces thanks to the damn ash.

They waited, the air too silent, too still. Then something like skittering—an awful, man-eating giant spider kind of skittering—echoed along the pavement with rapid motion to their left. The brothers both turned to face the telling noise. They waited again. After a moment the skittering returned, but this time from behind them.

_Shit_.

"There!" Dean called, whipping around to the right.

Sam fired just as Dean did, both of their shots hitting nothing but concrete as the creature rushed them—the same creature Dean had already _shot_—crawling on its stomach as impossibly fast as if it was sprinting on two legs.

Dean was closest so the creature gunned straight for him, too quickly for Dean to ready another shot. Thankfully, that was not true for Sam.

Cocking his shotgun, Sam immediately reared around and fired, this time hitting the creature square in the head, but not before its chest opened like a black pussing sore and sprayed Dean with black liquid that sizzled as soon as it touched his jacket.

"Fuck!" Dean yanked the jacket off, still holding his shotgun in one hand. At least the jacket wasn't his leather one, because whatever that black stuff was it started eating through the fabric like acid. It smoked and crackled from the ground where Dean dropped it. "Fucking freak!" Dean kicked at the creature's head, which was still god damn _twitching_. After several kicks it finally went still, but Dean was breathing heavily, obviously shaken.

"You okay?" Sam asked, looking at Dean in concern. Dean had gotten his jacket off before any of that stuff could sink in further to his other clothing or skin, but it had still been a close call.

Patting himself down as if he expected more of that acidic crap to suddenly start burning him, Dean shook himself off with a disgusted grunt. "Urg, this sucks. This fucking _sucks_. Where are we, in the evil ol' land of Oz?"

"Dean," Sam sighed.

"I'm _fine_," Dean affirmed, "Just…shit. What _was_ that thing? What the hell is going on?"

"I don't know," Sam said, "But maybe we should—" A sudden screech of static from Dean's cell phone cut off the end of Sam's sentence. It was picking up EMF again.

A sudden cry like a falcon or eagle pierced the sky above them, accompanied by the sound of heavy flapping, too heavy to actually be from any bird.

"Uhh…" Sam looked up, "Why do I get the feeling that isn't Castiel arriving?"

Insistent hands grabbed Sam by the scruff of his jacket and pulled, Dean forcibly leading them to the gas station. That flapping wasn't solitary. There was more than one of whatever was headed their way.

"_Move_," Dean pushed Sam toward the gas station doors. They were locked, like all of the other buildings had been, but it wouldn't take much for Sam to break in. While Sam worked on the lock, Dean watched his back, the sound of flapping growing ever louder

"There," Sam finally gasped as the doors swung open. It wouldn't have done them any good to just break through the glass, after all.

"Inside," Dean pushed at Sam again, leaving no room for personal space or second guessing as he crowded against Sam until both of them were safely inside. Or at least safe _for now_.

With the sound of flapping dulled by the barrier of the gas station doors, Sam and Dean were both so relieved that neither of them heard the rustling of movement coming from the back of the store.

tbc...


	5. Part 5 Dean

_Part 5 - Dean_

* * *

Dean tried to take stock of the situation. There were creatures in this town that, like movie zombies, required a direct shot to the head to actually stay down, and even that wasn't a guarantee that you wouldn't get burned.

Literally.

With _acid_.

There was also something flying around in the grey haze of a sky that reminded Dean a little too much of Alfred Hitchcock. And they were trapped. Not just currently, inside the gas station where they had ducked to avoid getting their eyes pecked out, or whatever might have happened, but trapped even more so by the drop-off that fell away to a bottomless pit at the edge of the town limits.

This definitely was not Dean's day.

"Okay, okay…" he scrubbed a hand down his face, his back pressed to the wall on one side of the door, while Sam was flattened on the other side, both of them peering through the glass to see if anything was visible outside, "We just need…we need to figure this out. Come up with a game plan."

"We could wait for Castiel," Sam suggested.

"For how long? Eventually, something's going to get in here if we don't keep moving. This isn't a haunting, it isn't a run of the mill demon infestation, and no ordinary cursed spot I've ever seen has manifested creatures like that. We need to find the center of this place. _Now_."

As Sam was giving in and nodding his agreement, the sudden clatter of items falling from one of the shop shelves alerted Sam and Dean that they were not as safely hidden as they thought. The brothers turned to stare further into the gas station, which was dark, practically pitch black with the lights off.

Dean brought a finger to his mouth to indicate silence, and Sam nodded. Guns ready, they began moving for the first aisle.

The noises had definitely come from there, and even though they couldn't see anything clearly, Dean's instincts told him to keep on. He could almost make out the dull outline of movement as his eyes adjusted.

Then he remembered his cell phone.

"_Wait_," Dean hissed at Sam, holding out an arm to keep Sam from firing when a figure came rushing toward them out of the dark.

"Ahhh!" yelled the _man_ that ran at them from out of the aisle, something like a club clutched in his hands that he pulled back and got ready to swing. Then he stopped, feet actually skidding to a halt when he saw Sam and Dean clearly. His eyes widened, his hands shaking as it held onto what Dean now realized was a rusty pipe. "You…you're not…one a them?" the man's voice dropped to a frightened whisper.

Dean had already lowered his gun and pushed down on the barrel of Sam's to get him to do the same. Sam shot Dean a look, mostly to say 'how did you know?' "No static," Dean shrugged, gesturing down to the pocket with his cell phone. He turned to the man, "Don't worry, pal. You're safe. We left the beasties outside, I promise. Unless you got some in here with you?"

The man dropped his arms in relief, the pipe long enough that the end of it hit the floor even as he held onto it. "Thank god," he sighed, "No, _no_. None of those things are in here. I checked the whole place. Didn't find anything. I locked the door behind me, found this pipe, and just…hid. Do you know what's going on?" he stepped closer to them.

Well, at least they knew the place was secure. Dean eyed the man, who looked a little dirty from the ash outside but not injured. He was about Dean's age with dirty blonde hair that fell down into his eyes, eyes that currently had blown pupils with only a sliver of blue visible. The guy was in good shape, like them, but definitely not another hunter, or anyone with combat experience.

He was wearing a freaking polo shirt.

Sam answered the man's questions first, plastering on his 'you can trust me' smile that worked so well on everyone, when Dean's usually only worked on women. And sometimes kids.

"Sorry, we just got into town. Our car stalled outside the limits and we were walking through," Sam said, easing right into an almost truthful lie, "Doesn't look like we'll be able to leave easily so we were hoping to find a phone, or maybe a town center where someone might know what's going on."

Yeah, that was definitely better than saying 'we're looking for the big-ass motherfucker responsible for this mess so we can _kill it'_.

"You from around here?" Dean added, hoping the guy knew a little more than they did since he had already been here when they arrived.

"Used to be," the guy said, "I'm Aaron Sanders. Grew up here with my sister when we were kids. I was coming to visit her. I can't…I can't even remember how I _got_ here though. I just…I just woke up and…everything was a mess. And those _monsters_," he shuddered.

"You must have hit your head," Sam gestured up to the cut on the man's temple, "That's probably why your memory's foggy."

Dean sure knew how _that_ felt. "Don't worry, man, we'll figure this out," he smiled encouragingly, "I'm Dean. This is my brother Sam. Good thing right now is that we're together, but if we're going to keep moving through all this, you better have something a little more lethal than a pipe."

Dean would have just handed the guy one of his extra guns, but he wasn't an idiot. They didn't actually know this guy. But it would be better if 'I'm Aaron Sanders' was armed since Dean didn't want to have to worry about watching his and Sam's back, _and_ the back of some bumbling idiot that would only get them killed.

"I have a pistol," Aaron offered, reaching into the back of his pants and producing an old Glock 17 that he definitely didn't know how to use judging by the way he held it, "Used up all the bullets when I saw one of those things outside. I'm not the best shot." He had the courtesy to look embarrassed that he had already wasted his ammo, but then that might also be because Dean and Sam had shotguns and other weapons tucked about their persons not all that covertly. "You guys…cops or something?" Aaron eyed their weaponry.

This was one time where Dean really didn't care about explaining why they were so heavily armed, but he still smirked to himself when Sam offhandedly said, "We're hunters."

"Oh," Aaron nodded like that should have been obvious, "What's in season?"

Oh, how Dean loved civilians. "Why don't we see if we can find some bullets for that thing," Dean gestured to the Glock and then turned to head back to the counter up at the front, "Small town like this, bet they sell bullets behind the counter with or without a Federal license."

There used to be a time when every Mom and Pop place sold a little ammo.

Sam and Aaron followed closely behind Dean, and low and behold, he found some cartridges behind the counter that should work for the Glock. He tossed them to Aaron, who clumsily caught them, even with the gun and pipe still in either hand.

"Where's your sister supposed to be? Maybe we can head there?" Dean said.

"That's a good idea," Sam nodded, "Maybe we can find some other people, figure out what's really going on."

"Wait," Aaron hastily tried to reload his gun, "You want to go back out there? Shouldn't we wait for help, or…or barricade ourselves in or something?"

What was with most people and that 'wait and see' approach, Dean wondered. That's what got idiots killed in horror movies. "We're sitting ducks with a glass door. I'd tell you to lie low and wait here, but I don't like your chances alone, pal, no offence. Plus you might be able to help us navigate the town if you're from here. Not much we can do walking blindly through ash."

"You don't know what's causing that, do you?" Sam narrowed his eyes at Aaron slightly.

Aaron shook his head.

Dean heard Sam clear his throat with a quick bullshit cough of 'Christo' under his breath. Aaron didn't even flinch, just stared at Sam and Dean like he wasn't quite sure he trusted these strangers. At least the guy wasn't a complete idiot. Or a demon.

Dean started handing shotgun shells over his shoulder to Sam as he continued cleaning out ammo from behind the gas station counter. At least they would be well stocked when they braved the outside world again. Dean was actually warming to the lead pipe idea. It had more range than a knife, and there was always the chance their guns could jam or that they would eventually run out of bullets no matter how well stocked they were.

He saw a baseball bat behind the counter and snatched it up, ignoring Sam's raised eyebrow.

"So where's your sister at?" Dean asked Aaron again.

Simply having company seemed to be relaxing Aaron, even if he wasn't quite ready to consider Sam and Dean his new best friends. "Blue Creek Apartments. That's where she lives. It's a couple blocks down. Straight shot. The main doors won't be locked, not in this town. But…then that might mean…those _things_…" he cringed, no doubt imagining all the awful ways his sister might have been mutilated.

Dean watched with a certain amount of fondness as Sam's patented puppy eyes came out in full force on Aaron's behalf. "We'll find her," he said, hand moving to squeeze Aaron's shoulder supportively. That was Sammy, always making promises he couldn't keep.

That thought turned Dean's expression a little sour. "Okay," he pushed his way between Sam and Aaron, not meaning to be quite so forceful, he _swears_, as he headed into the aisles with a flashlight he had snagged to check for other supplies they might want to bring along, "Let's stock up, just in case. If we do end up holed up somewhere, starving to death is not the way I plan to go out."

If Sam noticed anything about Dean's malleable temperament, he didn't comment, just helped Dean load up a bag with food, water, matches, and a few other odds and ends it never hurt to have along. Meanwhile, Dean also fashioned a mock sheath out of some vinyl rope for the bat so that his hands would remain free until he needed it, which was a totally _awesome_ idea no matter how much Sam snickered.

Once they were ready, the three of them tucked themselves tight together by the door, Aaron in the middle, and prepared to head back out into the ash.

tbc...


	6. Part 6 Sam

_Part 6 – Sam_

* * *

Sam was used to being scared. It came with the territory. Only amateurs thought you could live the life of a hunter and not be terrified of the things you faced. The truth was that if Sam wasn't able to accept his fear then he would never be able to do this job.

Of course his current level of 'scared' was a little higher than usual.

Ash was still falling consistently around them like grey snow, covering the whole town in a cloud of rancid smoke that made it impossible to see anything. Slowly, cautiously, Sam, Dean, and their newly acquired tour guide, Aaron, worked their way down the street toward the Blue Creek Apartments. So far the way had been silent and free of acid-spitting monsters.

There was a whole lot of nothing around them, or at least the next building was far enough away that they couldn't see anything but the thickness of the ash. They walked with Aaron between them, the poor guy holding onto his reloaded Glock like it was a lifeline, one he didn't really know how to use, while Sam and Dean both had shotguns they were pros with. Of course, they didn't want to use up all of their ammo, but something just felt safer about carrying heavier artillery.

"How much farther?" Dean hissed, keeping his voice low.

"It's just past Jack's Inn and the park. Shouldn't be far," Aaron whispered back, "But…but we don't even know what we're going to find. What if…what if Sammy's already dead…?" he choked off.

The hair on the back of Sam's neck stood on end as he met gazes with Dean around Aaron's shuddering form.

"_Sammy_?" Dean repeated, his eyes locked on Sam as he said it.

"Yeah. My sister. It's Samantha, but…I always called her Sammy. She hated it," Aaron chuckled in a quiet rush, the way people always laughed when they were too scared to laugh real.

"Probably just a younger sibling thing," Dean grinned at Sam, "You know, they gotta act all tough with their 'don't treat me like a kid' bullshit. Bet deep down I bet she loved the nickname more than she'd ever admit."

"Right," Sam huffed.

Aaron seemed to be in his own world. "Yeah…" he said, staring at the ground as he walked, "I hope…I hope she's okay."

"Whoa," Dean broke in, suddenly louder, "You see that up there? Looks like a truck. Oh, _hell_ yes, at last some civilization."

"That's Jack's Inn," Aaron pointed into the looming darkness that was starting to take shape into a building just across the street from where the truck was parked. At least they knew for sure that other people had to be in the town.

"We should try the truck before we keep on," Dean suggested, picking up speed.

"What for?" Sam asked, "We can't go anywhere."

"Depends," Dean shot back, "You like wandering about town with no protection?"

"Wait, why can't we go anywhere?" Aaron asked, "Couldn't we just drive the truck back out of town and get help?"

Oops. Sam and Dean didn't want Aaron freaking out on them any more than he already was. It was probably best if they didn't tell him that the edges of town dropped off into a great Grand Canyon wasteland of nothing.

"Just trust us, man," Sam patted Aaron's back, "It's going to take a little more than a vehicle to get out of this town. But let's try the truck anyway. Could be useful." He passed an apologetic look at Dean. He didn't mean to keep throwing out Dean's ideas and being testy, it was just such a frustrating situation.

The truck was close now, a beacon through the haze. They were only a few yards away when Dean's phone started crackling.

All three of them instantly froze.

They had come to the conclusion that the phone was their warning beacon—not a hard conclusion to make after what they had gone through so far. Sam and Dean had explained as much to Aaron, trying to avoid too much talk of EMF and ghosts and monsters, but the guy had been pretty willing to believe them anyway, considering there actually _were_ monsters in this scenario.

If Dean's phone was going all static on them now then that meant something was coming for them.

"Not more…god, _please_…I can't take any more of these things," Aaron mumbled, shuffling his feet and looking ready to bolt.

"Just hold it together," Dean spat sharply, "There are three of us and these things move slow. We have weapons, remember? We can do this."

The sound of flapping rather than the sight of one of those slow-moving creatures—which Sam decided not to remind Dean were not _slow_ once they hit the ground—had Sam's throat tightening. It sounded like a god damn pterodactyl closing in on them. Looked like one too when Sam finally spotted it diving right for his head.

"Sammy!"

Sam hit the pavement, blanketed by Dean who had plowed him over onto the ground to save him. Sam groaned as he and Dean quickly tried to disentangled themselves and get their bearings again. They hadn't lost their guns, and good thing too because they needed to use them.

_Now_.

"No…no!" They heard from Aaron, who was already scrambling backwards toward the truck _away_ from Sam and Dean. "I can't do this!" Aaron screamed, right before turning and bolting just like Sam had feared, disappearing into the ash somewhere beyond the truck.

"Aaron, no!" Sam yelled after him. Given the situation, Aaron was probably already being devoured by the creatures of _**The Mist**_.

"Sammy, there!" Dean called, alerting Sam back to the matter at hand.

They were back on their feet, Dean's phone was screaming with static, and the flapping seemed to be all around them now. Sam looked to where Dean was trying to pull his attention and fired at the shadowy shape above them. Another shot sounded, one from Dean, and the next moment a leathery looking bird the size of a German Shepherd—a bit too much like a pterodactyl actually—fell with a sick thud to the ground at Sam's feet.

For a minute Sam and Dean just stood there staring at the thing, both panting heavily. They didn't have to say aloud that if they were ever ambushed by these things or attacked by more than one or two at a time, there was a good chance they wouldn't live to talk about it.

"What the hell are we dealing with here, Sam?" Dean stepped up closer to the dead _thing_, still twitching as Dean kicked at it with his foot.

Sam just shook his head. He had never seen anything like these creatures before, and it wasn't like he could calmly look things up using the local wifi. "I don't know. But we should keep moving. We don't know how many of these things are out here. What about Aaron?" Sam looked off in the direction Aaron had run.

"Fuck him," Dean grit out, eyes wild and brow creased with tension. Sam had a sneaky suspicion that this whole mess was a little too close to Hell for Dean's liking. "Normally, I'd say let's at least look for the bastard, but…we don't even know what we're doing out here. We'll just get ourselves killed if we don't figure this out, and then we won't be able to help anyone. Let's just get to the truck, okay?" Dean wiped a hand down his face, more haggard than Sam was used to.

It was the kind of logic Winchesters didn't usually use. With them it was more often about saving whoever they could, but this place made it difficult to be heroic. They needed to be smart. Aaron was the one who had run off instead of sticking with the group.

Following along behind Dean, ad keeping a sharp eye on their surroundings, Sam took some solace in the silence of Dean's phone. It had quieted as soon as the creature was dead. At least they had something to even up the odds a little, even if it was just a warning that bad things were on the way.

"Hey, Dean," Sam reached ahead and tugged on Dean's shirt. He could feel that his brother was warm, despite the time of year and being without a jacket. Nothing about this place made sense. "I think I see something under the truck," Sam whispered, squinting ahead, almost positive he could make out a shadow laid out on the ground.

Dean pumped his shotgun to ready a new shell. "Shoot first, ask questions _never_?" Dean grinned crookedly over his shoulder at Sam.

Sam couldn't help thinking again how happy he was that at least Dean was with him.

Then a voice from behind them erased all thoughts Sam had been having of any kind of upper hand.

"_Dean_," was all he heard, low and gruff and fiercely urgent.

Sam tensed, seeing that Dean ahead of him looked just as frozen. They were bith too on edge to realize, however, that Dean's phone was silent as they whipped around in unison and pointed their shotguns squarely in the direction of the voice.

The brothers immediately dropped their weapons when they saw who was with them, and it took all of Sam's strength not to fall straight to the ground in relief.

"_Cas_," Dean gasped like the weight of the world had just been lifted from his shoulders.

At first, Sam thought he could relate to the sentiment, but although it was Castiel standing before them, wearing his usual trench coat, suit, and loosened tie, something was terribly wrong.

The angel looked as terrified as they were.

tbc...


	7. Part 7 Castiel

_Part 7 – Castiel_

* * *

Castiel was too late. He had foolishly sent Sam and Dean ahead when he had known so little about this particular seal himself. The truth had been kept from him for the greater good, something Castiel was beginning to doubt more and more each time 'good' didn't seem quite as righteous as he used to remember.

This place, Silent Hill, was like no other on Earth. It had always been a seal, but its power had grown exponentially over the years, infecting all the people near it, sometimes even drawing in others from across the country to be lured into its power.

Sam and Dean stood little chance protecting this seal, and Castiel had to wonder if that even mattered anymore. The Winchesters could not possibly grasp how bad this really was, and Castiel did not have the heart to tell them the truth.

Of course, Dean always was so persistent.

"What the hell, Cas, just spill it," Dean was practically growling in Castiel's face, shotgun lowered, but his grip on the handle was still tight, "You look freaked as shit. Now, points for you being able to look stone-faced and scared at the same time, but you better tell us what's going on right now. What's happening here? Where the Hell have you been?"

It always pained Castiel to lie to Dean, so he swore silently to himself that very moment that he would only speak the truth. "Forgive me, Dean, I did not know what I was sending you into. I would have come straight away, but breaking into the barrier was not easy. Silent Hill only lets in willingly those it can claim."

Those words alone had Sam and Dean looking pale and anxious.

"What is this place?" Sam gasped, shifting nervously, looking around with fear plain on his face. It was a good thing he was not still soothed merely by Castiel presence. Castiel could guarantee nothing.

"Silent Hill is a cursed spot that has had its sins compounded in on itself, creating a direct link to Hell and to an old god, much like Samhain, whose resurrection would signal the breaking of the seal here," Castiel explained, "For now the seal is intact, or the evil of this place would begin spilling out beyond Silent Hill's borders. We must stop the resurrection of this god. Lilith is no doubt already here attempting to free it."

"Well, great," Dean spat, "So what do we do? You don't happen to know how the seal can be broken, or how we're supposed to prevent it, by any chance?" The trust was gone from Dean's expression, his countenance back to bitterness and pessimism.

For once it was warranted. "Dean," Castiel looked to his charge earnestly, "Silent Hill is forever in flux. The details surrounding each attempt to resurrect the dark god imprisoned here tie directly to the people it has lured into the town. I unwittingly made you and your brother part of the cycle. What that means," Castiel looked at Sam, who was still openly distraught, and then back to Dean, who just looked angry, "What that means…is that all of the people you encounter here will have something in common with you. One unifying thread. If we can discover what that is, and follow the clues the town leaves us, we should be led straight to Lilith. The town always offers chances, but they are limited. The seal cannot be broken until everyone currently here has been killed, myself the only one exempt. If you die here…then all is lost."

Oh, how all is _lost_.

Sam and Dean looked somewhere between relieved and horrified to hear all this. As long as they lived, the seal could be saved. There was still a chance to save the _seal_. But there was worse news yet to tell them.

"I'm afraid I will be of little help to you," Castiel went on, "I was able to break in, but my abilities will be greatly stunted here. I am hardly more than a man in this place…" Castiel swallowed—used Jimmy's throat to swallow—because it seemed like the appropriate reaction for a caged animal. Castiel's death was not necessary to break the seal, but it was still a possibility that he could die. Sam and Dean must have understood that because whatever anger remained on their faces, it left them then, leaving something like sympathy instead.

"So we get to look after you for a change, huh?" Sam tried to smile.

"Can you leave?" Dean asked abruptly, ever one to think of others before himself.

Castiel shook his head. "Not anymore. Not until the resurrection is prevented. If I could…if I could take you out of here…" Castiel trailed.

"Forget it," Dean dismissed, "We have a job to do, so let's do it. We gotta find clues. Find the other people. Like Aaron," Dean turned pointedly to Sam.

"Shit," Sam cursed, "We need to find him. He could already be dead."

"He said his sister's name was _Sammy_, remember?" Dean kept his full attention on his brother, "There's the first coincidence, but something tells me that the real connection here is going to be bigger. Let's check the truck first," Dean pointed ahead, "Might still be good for cover if I can get it running. Then we'll search for Aaron."

It was strange for Castiel, being so limited, so helpless, almost entirely cut off from _The Angel Hotline_, as Dean called it. The only thing Castiel could hear from his brothers and sisters was a slight murmur, mangled words that seemed filled with fear for his sake. That didn't sit well with Castiel, with Jimmy's heart beating wildly in his human chest. Castiel had never felt so connected to his host before, practically human here and so vulnerable.

He could die here, condemning Jimmy to something far worse.

"_Yo_, snap out of it, man," Dean literally _snapped_ in Castiel's face, pulling him from his morbid musings.

Castiel tried to focus on Dean, on how immediately sure and confident the brothers became when they had a goal, a task they could fulfill, no matter how impossible.

"It'll be fine," Dean said, "Long as you don't run off on your own like that Aaron guy did, Sammy and me, we can protect you, okay? Besides, you've gotta have at least some angel mojo left, doncha?"

"I might be able to banish the creatures we encounter if I touch them," Castiel said, "But that's all. Your weapons will probably be more effective."

"Hey…Castiel?" Sam prompted softly, so easily sounding like a child that Castiel wanted to listen to rather than the arrogant and flippant man Sam was becoming that no longer believed in prayer.

Castiel returned the look Sam was giving him with a regarding tilt of his head.

"I just…I was wondering," Sam had difficulty speaking, "Did you…come here for us…knowing you wouldn't be able to leave and that you'd pretty much be a sitting duck? Did you come to warn us knowing what a big risk it was?"

There was surprise in Sam's questions, even though the answers were already obvious. Of course Castiel had had to come to this awful place, despite the dangers. "I could not let you face this alone," Castiel said, filled with something that might have been _thrill_, a sense of being a renegade without actually having disobeyed orders. Here he was barely an angel at all. A strange feeling of loneliness and freedom enveloped him as he thought that.

"Let's get a move on then," Dean smirked, no longer angry, but instead surprised, maybe even grateful to the angel, as he smacked Castiel's arm good-naturedly the way he so often casually touched Sam, "Gotta get you and everyone else in this place home."

The smile that had begun to grow on Castiel's borrowed face instantly faltered.

Silent Hill would never let them go home.

"We'll figure this out," Sam added, taking Castiel's arm and tugging on it gently, "Come on. It's okay."

The brothers began walking toward the truck in the distance, urging Castiel to come with them. Since Castiel could do nothing but follow wherever the Winchesters led him, he listened.

tbc...

* * *

A/N: How's that for a scared angel? And no, I haven't forgotten about the figure Sam saw by the truck. It's still there, waiting for next time. Thanks for reading and reviewing, my dears!

Crim


	8. Part 8 Dean

_Part 8 – Dean_

* * *

Dean could count on one hand how many times he had actually seen Castiel scared. He wasn't even sure if he could count the look on the angel's face now as scared or as just really worried and anxious. But then that was all sort of the same thing, Dean supposed, and, really, he couldn't grudge Castiel a little fear when the angel was basically depowered in this damn town and practically human. That had to be sobering.

And weird.

And _scary_.

Okay, Dean had to stop thinking about how scary all of this was because he was starting to freak himself out. They had Cas now, and even if he was merely a shinier version of a regular human being, he still had knowledge and basic fighting skills. At least Dean hoped Castiel had fighting skills. Did he? Now that Dean thought about it, Cas did have a tendency to get his clock cleaned if someone wasn't watching his back.

Still. Three was better than two.

As they were nearing the truck that Dean was not-so-secretly hoping would not only _run_ but somehow be capable of taking them out of here, Dean focused on the shadowy figure on the ground that Sam had pointed out before. There was definitely something there, half tucked under the truck. Sam and Dean had their shotguns ready, Castiel safe behind them, when they finally got close enough to see that the figure was a pair of legs.

Dean felt the bile rising in his throat right before he realized that the legs were _moving_ and not at all detached from their body. "Hey!" Dean called down as he circled quickly to the opposite side so he and Sam had the legs surrounded, "Who's down there?"

"Fuck!" responded a sharp curse after an immediate clang of forehead against metal, "Damn it," grumbled the voice a moment later, "Who the hell's up _there_?"

Guns aimed, Sam and Dean stood steady as the man—definitely a man—rolled out from under the truck. He was smudged with dirt and oil and was even wearing a grease-monkey's jumpsuit. His nametag said 'Jonah', but if Dean hadn't known it was impossible, he would have sworn it was his _father_. Or at least a close relative.

"Jesus," the guy raised his hands as if being at a stick-up, which was probably what this felt like from his perspective, what with two shotguns pointed down at him, "If you're looking to take the truck, I've been working on getting her running for over an hour, and nothing. Don't have a cent on me, I swear."

Sam glanced over at Dean and rolled his eyes. He lowered his gun soon after and plastered on that patented puppy look, full with deep-seated apology. "Sorry, Mr., uhh…Jonah," Sam read the guy's nametag, "We're just trying to be cautious. I don't suppose you've noticed the..." Sam trailed. He always had trouble saying things like 'freaky-ass monsters'. "The…_unusual_ things that have been going on in this town?"

Jonah just blinked for a moment. Then his hands came down and he sat up with a frown. "You mean those _creatures_ that damn near took my head off?" he snapped, "Yeah, I think I noticed. Why do you think I was bothering with the truck? My own car died on me when I was coming in the other way. This was the first car I saw. And believe me, son," he pointed up at Sam, "I want to get out of here as soon as I can. Gotta admit, it's good to run into someone with more of a weapon than this damn pocket knife of mine," he patted his pocket, "Now, help me up." And without so much as a worried glance at Dean for still having his weapon aimed, Jonah thrust his arms up at both brothers and waited for a helping hand.

Now, Mr. Mechanic Jonah couldn't have been much older than early 50s, but then Bobby was still shy of 60 and he could sound just like this guy sometimes.

It was weird, Dean thought, as he helped hoist Jonah to his feet. This guy looked so much like their dad—short dark hair dusted with grey, unshaven face, warm brown eyes despite a surprisingly sharp look, and a tall fit body. He was also a _mechanic_. Cas had said there would be similarities between them and the other people here, but still, this was freaking Twilight Zone kind of stuff. It bothered Dean that Sam didn't seem to notice.

The brothers introduced themselves to Jonah and found out that he had driven into town from the neighboring town of Shepherd's Glen because of a call made into his shop. It had been fuzzy, barely audible, and all Jonah had been able to surmise was that he needed to get to the main drag of Silent Hill fast for some kind of emergency. He had brought his tow truck, but that had died just after he passed the town sign. Sam and Dean could definitely relate.

"Didn't even get the guy's name, but Shepherd's Glen's not far from here. I figured I could just come on over and check anyway, in case this guy was in any serious trouble. Lot a good that did me," Jonah huffed, "Here I am, trapped here now, with those…_things_ about, and I can't even get a truck with nothing wrong with it to start. I don't know if you boys believe in ghost stories or not, but…this can't be normal."

Dean tried not to snort. "We're with you on that, pal," he said, "Look, now that we've found you, we need to stay together, okay? The truck's not gonna start, trust me, and the only way we're gonna get outta here is by working as a team. You, me, and—" Dean looked around Sam to indicate Castiel, who he had almost forgotten about, when he suddenly realized that the angel was no longer there. "Shit!" Immediately, Dean had his shotgun ready again. "Cas!"

Startled, Sam fumbled with his gun too, looking about frantically in search of their missing companion. Before they had the chance to really start panicking, Castiel suddenly came around the front of the truck from the other side.

"Here," he said, clearly a bit ruffled, but also as if he didn't quite understand what was so urgent, "I was just on the other side. I thought maybe I could start the truck." Those bright blue eyes looked so innocent and unsure of their own skin, like they had been that first night Dean met him.

The sight of Castiel had Dean breathing relief, and he let his gun fall again while shooting the angel a warning glare. "Dude, what did I say about not running off like an idiot? Just stay close. I'd rather not have your mangled body on my conscience, okay?"

"Who's this now?" Jonah asked, raising an eyebrow at the sudden newcomer.

"He's with us," Dean spoke up right away in case Sam or Castiel got it in their heads that telling the truth would be a good idea in this situation, "Cas is a city guy. Not so much in the knowledge with guns and fending off monsters, if you catch my drift. But right now," Dean glanced briefly at Sam and Castiel to make sure they understood his tactic of discretion, "Rather than play twenty questions, we need to get somewhere safe. I've got my cell phone here. Seems that whenever one of those things is close—"

"It starts going off like a radio between stations," Jonah broke in. He reached into his pocket and pulled out what looked like a fairly high-tech walkie-talkie, "I noticed. Most of the time I've just been taking off whenever it gets crackly."

"Good," Sam said, "I think that's what we should all do unless there's no other choice. We might need the ammunition. I don't suppose you noticed someone run by the truck a few minutes ago?" Sam switched gears, reminding Dean that they were still technically looking for Aaron, "There was another guy with us before. He ran off when we were attacked. I think he went into the park." Sam nodded passed the truck.

Jonah's brow furrowed. "Didn't hear anything, though it's hard to notice on the ground, focused as I was. But there's no real place to go beyond the park other than into the lake. He can't be far."

"We should look for him," Sam looked at Dean, eyes all sensitive and worried for this person they barely knew. But then that was Sammy. Dean was the same usually with strangers that he wanted to help, he just didn't make it as obviously apparent all the time.

Wiping a hand down his face, Dean offered a responding nod, taking a moment to catch his breath since they were going to have to go further into the haze rather than find a safe harbor just yet. "Okay. Aaron first. Then shelter. You with us, Jonah?" Dean turned to the mechanic, who offered a wide smile that showed off deep-set dimples.

Dimples like _Dad's_.

"Safety in numbers, son, I'm all for that," Jonah said, "Not to mention safety in a shotgun."

At least that had Dean smiling for a moment. He turned to Castiel, who had thankfully moved closer to them since being reprimanded. "We stick together. Hopefully, we'll find Aaron soon and then we can get somewhere safer."

Castiel twitched at Dean's words almost as if to say 'there is no place safer'.

_Awesome_.

But regardless of the dangers, everyone nodded their agreement to Dean's plan, and the four of them prepared to head into the park.

At first, Dean didn't notice the sound that began to permeate their surroundings, not until Castiel suddenly stopped short, shoulders tensing beneath his trenchcoat. A moment later, Jonah stopped abruptly too.

In the distance, but growing louder by the minute, was the sound of a _siren_.

"What is that?" Sam hissed, sensing, no doubt, that this was a 'be tense and quiet' kind of moment.

Jonah spoke first, groping for the pocket knife he had mentioned. "God, not again…"

"We have to take cover now," Castiel's voice practically shook, his eyes too human in their panic as they turned and looked at Dean, "It will not matter, we will not be safe, but inside will be better than here."

"What's happening?" Dean stepped closer to the angel.

The siren was becoming almost deafening. Jonah seemed to have already experienced this, and Castiel obviously knew what was happening. So far it only seemed to be noise, a loud wailing siren like the signal for a tornado, but even so, the look on Castiel's face was enough for Dean to know that he should be afraid.

"We have to take cover _now_," the angel said again.

Aaron was so fending for himself. "Come on," Dean pulled on Castiel's arm, then reached over and pulled on Sam's as well, urging all of them to follow him, "Those apartments should be up ahead. No front-entry lock, Aaron said. We'll go there. _Move it_."

Dean didn't really know what he was doing, but he definitely liked the idea of listening to Castiel rather than waiting around to see what that siren would bring.

They dashed across the street as a quickly moving group, Castiel and Jonah tucked between Sam and Dean. They moved passed the inn, not wanting to risk that it might be locked up like the rest of the town, and continued across the next intersection.

Dean soon spotted the Blue Creek Apartment buildings ahead and rallied everyone onward. His phone started crackling along the way, but none of them were willing to stop and find out if there were creatures nearby.

When they finally reached the doors to the apartments, Dean could not have been more relieved to find them unlocked as Aaron had guessed. He ushered the others inside first, Sam being the last to slip by him, but when he cast one last look out at the streets, Dean's blood ran cold.

He couldn't explain it, describe it, or even fully grasp that he was actually _seeing_ it, but the very concrete, the buildings, the distant truck, even, all of it was melting away like burnt up bits of paper.

tbc...


	9. Part 9 Sam

_Part 9 – Sam_

* * *

Being afraid was very different from being so damn petrified that Sam could barely imagine firing his shotgun the next time something homicidal came at them.

This was so out of their normal realm. Not that anything about their lives ever followed a sense of order, but this town, everything about this place was so different from anything they had ever faced before. There seemed to be no laws, no way of catching a break, or place they could be safe.

When Dean backed into the apartment building muttering something about the streets _melting_, Sam figured he had heard his brother wrong. But whatever was happening outside, brought on by the sound of that siren, it was not leaving them untouched inside where they had taken refuge. The walls around them were melting too.

No, Sam thought, it wasn't really like melting so much as being stripped away to a barer, burnt base underneath, as if their surroundings were shedding off the guise of almost normal, and finally revealing the Hell at its core.

As the apartment building burnt up around them despite the lack of fire—definitely _burnt_, because Sam could smell the ash and sulfur so much stronger than before—Sam, Dean, Castiel, and Jonah huddled in close together in the entryway, praying that they would not likewise be stripped away.

"Gotta find a place to hide," Jonah said with a shaky voice, "The monsters get worse when the siren goes off."

"What do you mean? What the hell is _happening_?" Dean grit out for what felt like the dozenth time.

Finally, Castiel spoke as the walls around them settled, leaving them in a different world than the one they had first entered. "It is the Otherworld," the angel said, "Unstable. Dangerous. It cannot maintain a hold here, but when it surfaces, the connection to Hell completes itself, allowing the creatures and damned souls trapped here free reign. We must wait it out. We cannot continue while the world remains like this."

"Hide, like I said," Jonah agreed.

"For how long?" Dean pressed, all of them still turned outward with their backs together, watching the darkness around them as if at any moment one of those creatures would come out of the shadows to snatch them up, "We don't know what Lilith is doing, if she's already close to breaking the seal, _nothing_. We don't have time to sit on our hands and hide."

"But Dean—" Sam tried.

"Who's Lilith?" Jonah cut in, "And how the Hell do you know so much, anyway?" he turned to Castiel. The siren was still sounding in the distance, but the change into this 'Otherworld' was now complete, the entryway looking black and red and tattered.

The four of them turned to face each other, and Sam took the burden of speaking to Jonah. "There isn't time to explain everything," he said, "You just have to trust us. We're trying to figure this out, we might be able to stop it, and then all of us can get out of here. Okay?"

Jonah was clearly not the type of person to usually go along with what a stranger was telling him, but this was not a normal situation, either, not by any stretch. The mechanic hesitated but eventually nodded his acquiescence. He had already admitted that being with others put him more at ease, especially when those others had weapons.

Sam was thankful for that too. He held his shotgun tight to him, taking the time to reload, while Dean did the same.

It was unnerving how distraught Castiel looked right now, how in his head, in his own world, like he was too terrified and troubled to focus on the world they were in. Sam could understand that, but seeing an angel looking so hopeless did not do anything to improve Sam's mood.

He also couldn't quite shake how much Jonah looked and reminded him of his dad.

A mechanic, with such similar features and coloring. Sam knew Dean had noticed too. Dean wasn't very good at hiding that kind of shock, much as he had managed to mask it afterwards. But Sam was trying his damndest not to think about it. The similarities they supposedly had with the other people stranded here, Sam didn't like where that might lead, what the true tie-in would finally be, because he knew it couldn't be anything good.

It was too quiet inside the apartment building, even with the siren outside, with only the sound of shells being loaded echoing around them and down into the hallway ahead that was nothing but a black abyss. It was so dark here, almost worse than being out in the ash.

After Sam finished reloading his gun, he took out his flashlight.

"Damn it," Dean cursed suddenly, patting down his pockets, still jacketless.

"What?" Sam whispered to him.

Dean's eyes looked dark in the shadows, only the barest light glinting off the color green. "Aaron had the bag with all the supplies we grabbed from the gas station. I don't have the other flashlight, matches, food, nothing."

_Wonderful_.

"Well, I still have this one," Sam indicated his flashlight as he flicked it on and made a quick sweep over the entryway. Everything looked abandoned and rotten in this Otherworld. "I threw some matches in my pocket. No food though. Or water. We'll have to rely on this for light, and your cell phone and Jonah's radio to tell us if more creatures are around."

"Can I have that?" Jonah asked Dean, pointing at the bat strapped to Dean's back with rope, "I understand you boys not wanting to give up the guns, but I would like to be armed, if I can be."

Dean didn't hesitate, just slipped the bat free and handed it to the man. "Cas?" he asked the angel.

Sam tried not to laugh at the thought of offering Castiel a weapon. It was just so hard to imagine him using a gun.

"I know you said you might be able to, uhh…handle yourself fine," Dean said, meaning the possibility of Castiel banishing those creatures by touching them, "But if you want something. My ankle blade? A handgun?"

It took a moment for Castiel to even look up, as if he had been deep in thought or listening carefully for something. His head tilted Dean's direction. "I would be more comfortable with the blade," he said.

Like he had done with the bat, Dean unhooked his ankle blade from the sheath on his leg and handed it to Castiel without question.

It was even quieter now, Sam began to notice, just dull creaks and groans of the building, like maybe something was lurking right around the corner but they couldn't see it. Sam hadn't noticed at first, but Dean's phone and Jonah's radio were both humming lightly under the current of silence.

While the others whispered about where they might hide, or how far they should dare venture if they went on, Sam went around the lobby's desk. It was old fashioned looking, not like a modern apartment complex, but almost more like a hotel, having the office right there in front instead of in a separate building. There was an office door behind the desk but when Sam checked the knob it was locked.

Looking over the contents of the desk, there was nothing of interest, just some burnt paper Sam couldn't read, and dark smudges on the wood. Sam turned to the wall behind him and flashed the light on what appeared to be a map of the building, displaying the layout of the grounds and all of the rooms. The Blue Creek Apartments seemed to be connected to the apartment building next door, Woodside.

Sam set his shotgun down on the desk for a moment so he could retrieve the map from the wall. It might come in handy.

"Sammy, let's go," Dean called over to him, having apparently won the argument to at least keep moving for awhile, "Even if it is smarter to hide, one of the rooms has to be better than staying right by the front door. I want us all close together, so get over here with the flashlight, okay?"

Damn, Dean really could be bossy when he wanted to be, Sam smirked to himself, but he knew it was just years of 'take care of Sammy' conditioning Dean to want to take the lead. Usually, Sam pretended he didn't mind, at least at first, and as long as they weren't fighting at the time, but Sam didn't want his brother playing hero in a place where both of them could easily end up dead.

He moved to join Dean and the others again, but wasn't about to give up the flashlight.

"I found a map," he told them, "I think we should try heading for—" Sam cut off as the hum from the phone and radio began to grow louder, crackling with static.

All four of them froze in place, varied colored eyes growing wide in the dark. There had to be something down the hallway. Sam was closest to the opening, standing at the edge of the desk, his shotgun still lying on top of it instead of being in his hands.

"Sammy, don't move," Dean hissed.

Well-trained or not, curiosity got the better of Sam and he turned his head slowly to the left, shifting the light into the shadows. There wasn't anything there.

"Maybe…in the office behind me, or in one of the rooms," Sam suggested quietly, since his light went fairly far down the hallway but wasn't illuminating anything other than wall and floor.

Right then Sam should have reached for his gun, should have reclaimed it before doing anything else. He knew that in the back of his mind, but for whatever inane reason, he took a few steps away from the desk instead to better shine his light down the hallway.

What the flashlight did not help Sam see was the adjacent hallway just to his left.

The crackling of Dean's phone and Jonah's radio flared loudly as one of those shuffling acid-spitter creatures rammed into Sam from the side, sending the flashlight skittering across the floor. Sam lifted his arms defensively, trying to somehow grope for his handgun while calling out to the others for aide. This thing didn't have any actual arms, twisted by flesh as it was, but merely lurched at Sam with all of its weight, battering against him. Sam crumbled after a particularly harsh blow and landed hard on his knees.

There was a sudden crack of light and smoke—Dean had fired at the creature with his shotgun. Sam tried to roll out of the way when he heard the thing fall, knowing it could still very well be capable of moving.

Somehow, in the dark, Sam managed to flatten his back against a wall. He could dimly see the figure of Dean hovering over the fallen creature to shoot at it from closer range. It went still on the ground, twitching only a moment more, but the radio static did not go silent like it should have. Sam's voice caught in his throat as he saw the hazy figure of another one of those damn monsters shuffling toward them from further down the hall.

"Dean!" someone called, though Sam wasn't sure if it had been Castiel or Jonah, since his head was still spinning from being pummeled by body weight. All he saw was the swing of a bat, the glint of a knife, and then he heard Dean grunt, swinging the butt of the shotgun around for a sharp blow that brought the second creature down like the first.

Sam felt a surge of nausea, maybe from the concussion he probably sustained, maybe from the smell of those disgusting things rotting right around him, but he breathed relief when his eyes adjusted to the dark and he could make out Dean crouching in front of him.

"Dude, you totally suck," Dean said, in true brother fashion, "Went down like a freaking girl from just a couple hits. Gonna need me to wipe your ass for you too?"

As if Sam could feel any more like a goon right now. "Shut up," he grumbled, knowing it would be a bad idea to stand up just yet, "I think I'm gonna throw up."

"Just aim away from the shoes, alright?" Dean smirked. Well, Sam assumed Dean smirked, though he couldn't quite make out Dean's features as clearly as he would have liked.

"Jerk," Sam groaned.

He knew Dean was preparing his usual comeback to that nickname, only Sam didn't quite get to hear it, since the door—not _wall_, he realized too late—that he was leaning against suddenly gave way, and Sam fell back onto rotted wood flooring.

Sam would have laughed, would have tried to, anyway, especially since Dean gasped as if that had totally freaked him out. Only it wasn't so funny when Sam heard the phone and radio surge with static again, and his eyes focused on the _monster_ standing over him.

Its chest opened without warning and Sam felt the distinct burn of acid pour onto his skin.

tbc...

* * *

A/N: Oh, I'm evil, aren't I? Back to Cas' POV next time.

Crim


	10. Part 10 Castiel

_Part 10 – Castiel_

* * *

Castiel had known panic before. It was not a new sensation. He had also known helplessness, but not in quite the same way as he was feeling now. His faith was shaken in knowing there was so little he could do to help, or to protect himself.

He could only watch, horrified, his pulse—_Jimmy's_ pulse—still racing from helping Dean and Jonah kill the second creature, as a _third_ creature appeared from the room behind Sam and spat acid onto the fallen hunter's skin.

Sam had already been disoriented, suffering from a concussion maybe, but he still instinctively raised his left arm to shield himself after acid had landed on his jaw and neck. The remaining acid began eating away at his coat and shirt sleeve, still reaching him, still causing him such awful pain.

Castiel's breath caught at the sound of Sam screaming.

Of course Dean was quick to act, always so quick to act when someone else was in need, especially his brother. He had yet to reload his shotgun, but used it once again as a club, slamming the butt of the weapon up into the creature's chin and sending it toppling backwards into the room. Dean shouted back at Castiel then to tend to Sam as he leapt over his brother to finish the creature off, thinking nothing of his own safety.

Castiel remained frozen at first, but only for a moment. He dropped to his knees beside Sam and began hastily removing him of his jacket. It was immediately clear that the acid had already started eating through Sam's shirt, so Castiel tugged and tore at Sam's flannel until there was only the T-shirt beneath.

Sam was no longer screaming, but was gasping from the pain, staring wide-eyed up at Castiel for help.

_Help me!_

There was no time to be sure whether or not Dean had killed the creature yet. Castiel hauled Sam up onto his feet—at least he still had more strength than Jimmy's body alone—and hefted Sam to the bathroom inside the apartment.

The door was open, a sink in direct line of sight. Amazingly, actual water gurgled and finally poured from the faucet when Castiel flipped on the taps. He quickly splashed water over the wounds on Sam's arm, and along his neck and chin that were still losing flesh as the acid ate into him.

The water would neutralize it, at least stop the spread, but it would not undo the damage already done that was making Sam shake and go into shock.

"Sam!" Dean called from outside the bathroom, leaning on the doorframe and looking in at Sam and Castiel stricken. Jonah remained at a loss behind Dean, practically catatonic in his own state of shock.

Castiel had to stay calm. They expected it of him. He could not give away the truths he knew by panicking and crumbling. Somehow, he had to help bring them through this.

"I may be able to heal some of it," Castiel told Dean. It was getting harder to hold Sam up, and there was no way to know how deeply the acid had gone, but Castiel had to try. He leaned Sam back against the bathroom wall, placed one hand over the wounds on Sam's neck and one on his arm, and prayed that he had enough of his true self left to do this.

It was far easier to heal Sam than Castiel expected.

Sam gasped like a drowning victim taking their first breath out of water, his eyes clearing and focusing, though he did not stop shaking. When Castiel pulled his hands away, there was not smooth skin left behind, but the wounds were healed enough to leave only the surface still marred that would no doubt scar over time.

"Here, Sammy, hang on," Dean came into the bathroom, holding a rag he must have gotten from Jonah. It was only a little dirty, and would suffice for now. Dean wrapped it carefully around Sam's arm with practiced hands that had treated many wounds on that same skin. Castiel could picture easily a younger Dean treating a child Sam as he watched them.

"Sh-shit," Sam stuttered, willing himself not to go into shock like he had been about to, but to remain alert, ready to fight if they needed him. There wasn't anything to put over the wounds on his neck, not even a simple bandage.

"No big deal, right?" Dean mustered a smirk, patting the shoulder furthest from Sam's injuries, "It's just skin. It'll grow back."

Sam huffed a shaky laugh.

They really were remarkable men, these Winchesters.

"Thanks, Cas," Dean glanced at Castiel, a brief glimmer of heartfelt gratitude shining there before Dean masked himself again.

The three of them were crammed into the tiny bathroom, crowding the sink. Sam needed to rest, clear his head, or better yet, find something to treat his wounds more properly than Castiel's meager healing could offer. While the healing had come easily, Castiel could not bypass the powers of this place completely, not as he was.

Jonah stood in the doorway, Dean's bat bloody in his hands. "We can't stay here," he said, "Gotta keep moving. More of those monsters are bound to be coming, and this ain't exactly the best hiding place. Maggie…" his eyes went glassy, "My wife, she…she'll be wondering where I am. We got two boys…"

Castiel did not have to see Sam and Dean's faces clearly in the dark to know that the brothers were shaken to hear of the further similarities Jonah had with their father. Castiel had noticed too. He wished he could see the truth of Jonah's soul, see what the connection was between Sam and Dean and the others here. But all he could see was shadow, something darkening this man that had yet to be revealed.

Jonah was not a bad man, not evil, but there was something there, blackening him at his edges.

Slowly, Dean helped Sam out of the bathroom, and Castiel followed. It was quiet and still so very dark. Dimly, Castiel could hear the siren continuing to blare outside. Their eyes were starting to adjust but somehow that was not enough for them to see well in this place.

The apartment they had entered was small, unremarkable, black and smudged like everything else in this world. And then of course there was the bludgeoned body of the third creature.

Castiel shivered, feeling the hairs on Jimmy's arms stand on end.

"Grab Sam's flashlight from the hallway there, Jonah," Dean gestured to the faint light coming from outside the door, "It'll probably just lure more of those things toward us. We'll regroup a minute before moving on. We should get Sam's shotgun too when we go, but we'll grab that together. Don't want anyone going off too far on their own."

Jonah retrieved the flashlight without incident and closed the door behind him when he came back inside. They were down one weapon, injured, tired. And this was only their first time in the Otherworld. Castiel knew little about it, but enough to fear it more than he had dared fear diving into perdition to rescue Dean's soul.

This was a different kind of Hell.

Castiel shivered again, cursing himself as he did so. It was not cold. He actually felt very warm, not used to experiencing the extremes of mortal life, but usually remaining balanced. There was sweat dampening his host's skin now, his pulse still racing, his hopes of maintaining calm for Sam and Dean's sakes dwindling.

"Join the party, Cas," Dean's voice broke into Castiel thoughts, the elder hunter having forced Sam to sit down while he reloaded, with Jonah peering out the window.

Castiel did not understand what Dean meant at first, but he got the gist when Dean tugged at his own shirt. All of them were down to one layer of clothing while Castiel was still wearing three.

"Lose the trench and suit coat, man. They'll just get in the way," Dean said, "You can probably lose the tie too." He reached up from where he was sitting next to Sam on the remains of a burnt-up couch and yanked lightly on the end of Castiel's dark blue tie.

_Jimmy's_ tie.

Jimmy…

Castiel was barely more than just Jimmy now, save having memories of being something greater. He felt more human by the moment as he took Dean's advice, letting his trench coat drop to the floor, then undoing the buttons on his jacket and letting that drop too. Finally, he loosened his tie further and pulled it free, tossing it onto the pile of discarded clothing. He felt strangely naked in just his shirt and slacks.

"You're hopeless," Dean stood with his reloaded shotgun propped on his shoulder, shaking his head as he came up to Castiel and flicked open the top bottom of Jimmy's white shirt, "You can just summon all that back once we're out of here, right?" Dean nodded down at the pile of clothes.

"Umm…yes," Castiel said, though it was actually a bit more complicated than _summoning_.

"So don't worry about it," Dean shrugged. Then he turned back to Sam, and Jonah at the window. It was eerie how no light was actually streaming in from outside. "Okay. We should go. We'll grab Sammy's shotgun from the desk up front, then make our way down the main hallway."

"There's…" Sam cringed as if even simply talking stung more than he could bear, which had to be true judging from the sight of his neck, "…the…map. Another building…connects to this one," he finished, pulling out the map he had taken from the lobby.

Dean walked back to his brother to look at it.

Part of Castiel wanted to stay right where they were, wanted to cower. An _angel_ wanted to cower. The thought made Castiel so angry with himself. He was not helpless. He was _not helpless_.

Sam and Dean were the helpless ones, so much more right now than they could possibly understand. Castiel had to be strong for them.

"Hey…" Jonah breathed shakily, so softly they might not have heard him if it wasn't so quiet.

Castiel looked over, Sam and Dean did as well, only to see Jonah's face overcome with fear as he clung to the bat Dean had given him and stared out the window.

"What…what the hell is that thing…?" Jonah whispered.

Dean moved immediately for the window, Sam following gingerly, leaving Castiel last to walk across the room and peer over the others' shoulders into the night. By the time Castiel reached them, Sam and Dean looked just as disturbed and afraid as Jonah. Then Castiel too saw why.

The creatures they had seen so far were child's play compared to what existed at the core of this place. Outside on the street, barely illuminated by anything but the glint of the blade being drug heavily behind it, was some awful parody of a man. He was monstrously large, with something like an executioner's shroud on his head made of metal, otherwise having only bloody cloth wrapped around his waist as he carried an impossible sword. The blade shrieked against the pavement as it was drug behind him.

There, by the window, the siren was louder. Castiel felt himself shivering again, _shaking_. Something about the figure below them was familiar, and that only sickened Castiel more. It was coming for them, he knew, not yet but it would be. And it would find them. And Castiel would be unable to do anything to stop what happened after that.

The siren was so loud in Castiel's ears suddenly, the glass of the window cracking from the force of it. The cracking glass was loud too—so loud, too loud—loud enough that the figure below with his ominous helmet must have heard it. He looked up at them, looked up without eyes, and before Castiel could fill Jimmy's lungs with another shaky breath, the world around him grew darker and darker until there was nothing left but black.

tbc...

* * *

A/N: I swear there will be a chapter that ends without a cliffy. If it makes you feel better, Cas is not in any danger. Right now. ;-)

Crim


	11. Part 11 Dean

_Part 11 – Dean_

* * *

Dean woke up coughing, as if his lungs had been filled with smoke and ash while he slept. At first, he didn't remember where he was. Then a flash of the _thing_ he had seen outside raced across his mind and he almost sat straight up as he recalled the monstrous size of it, of _him_, with that pyramid-shaped helmet, and the blade so large it had to be dragged. Dean would have dismissed it as a nightmare if he hadn't woken up on a dirty apartment floor inside the damned town of Silent Hill.

He knew that thing, the monster they had seen. He knew the presence of it. He knew exactly why it shook him and made him feel close to retching.

"Hey! _Cas_!" came a shout from Dean's left, which immediately alerted him because usually _he_ was the one anxiously crying out that name.

Dean sat up properly and turned. He must have dropped right there by the window, but Castiel was spread out behind him. Jonah and Sam were trying to get the angel to stop convulsing. Sam wasn't in much better of a state to be worrying over someone else, but that was a Winchester for you.

"Cas!" Jonah called again, only knowing the man in the button-down shirt by that name, a name that sounded at least a little less angelic than Castiel.

Dean took only a moment to notice that their surroundings had changed again, back to simply dingy and dark, not burnt and bloody and so closely connected to Hell, before he scrambled over to Castiel as well.

The siren had stopped.

"Cas?" Dean spoke more quietly than Jonah, elbowing his way in passed the mechanic. Castiel's eyes were clenched tight and he was practically seizing. "Come on, man, snap out of it. The Otherworld's gone. It's okay."

The _Otherworld_. Dean played the term over in his mind even as he said it. It wasn't just some other world, it was Hell. Truly, honestly some part of Hell. Dean knew that now.

Finally, as if the sound of calling voices had just then reached him, Castiel's eyes sprang open, wide and vibrant blue. His shaking began to subside but remained just slightly, like a tremble beneath his skin. When his eyes focused, he turned and looked right at Dean.

"What was that about, huh, worrying us like that?" Dean half spat, half grinned at the angel, "You didn't see any of us throwing a fit, now, did ya? Guess getting sucked back into the normal world packs more of a punch."

Not that Dean was expecting otherwise, but it was a little disheartening that Castiel didn't smile even a little at his try for lightening the mood. Castiel looked scared. Terrified, really. Then…sympathetic, almost like he was pitying Dean, and Dean knew right that moment that Castiel had recognized something in the man with the pyramid head too.

"You okay?" Dean asked more seriously, his grin dropping.

Castiel nodded. "I am not a natural part of this. The town does not want me, but it will not let me go either. The shifts will affect me more than the rest of you."

"What's he going on about?" Jonah asked Sam.

Smart kid that he was, Sam just shrugged. Then those hazel eyes turned urgently to Dean. They didn't have time for this. They had to move before the siren came back. At least in this version of Silent Hill there were fewer creatures around the bend.

"We should go," Sam stated the obvious.

Dean was still thinking about getting Sam's forgotten shotgun and making it to the other building Sam had mentioned that was apparently attached to this one. They had to stay safe, but they also had to find Lilith and wherever this seal was going to be broken, and that was going to take a little legwork.

And of course it would be nice if they could manage all of that without having to explain everything to Jonah.

Dean took one of Cas' hands while Jonah grabbed the other and they lifted him to his feet. The angel swayed a little, like he might be nauseous, but nodded as if to say he could make it.

It was far too human an expression, going all green like that. Dean wasn't sure if he liked it, or if it scared the unholy shit out of him.

"Make sure you have everything," Dean stepped up to take the lead again, especially with Sam injured and Cas all wibbly, "Let's get outta here."

The strange thing Dean noticed as he looked about the room was that the creature they had killed was no longer there, like it had been left on the other side, in the Otherworld, and only a certain few creatures actually made it over to this side.

Another thing Dean noticed, scanning one last time with the flashligh, was a faint glimmer in the corner. There was so little light to see by, Dean knew it couldn't be a trick, it had to be the flashlight catching on something.

He went to the corner and bent down, groping with his fingers until he discovered a thin metal chain with a pendant. It was silver. Delicate.

"What is it?" Sam asked.

"A locket," said Dean, standing up again and examining the necklace under the light. The others were already waiting for him by the door. "Pretty clean too, considering how dusty and rundown everything else looks. Says…" Dean squinted at the engraving on the front, "…yours forever. Huh. Can't get it open. Last tenant must have left it here. Or the town's last victim."

"No," Castiel spoke up, a thick graveness in his voice. Dean flashed his light over at the three men by the door, Castiel's face looking haunted. "The town leaves clues to lead you where it wants. We must get the locket open."

Okay, Dean really hated how they had anthropomorphized this place—_the town leaves clues_—but then it really was like a living thing. "Later," Dean pocketed the necklace, heading swiftly to join the others, "We're getting out of here first. Come on."

Castiel looked ready to protest but was too unsteady on his feet still to put up much of a fight.

Together, they left the apartment, watching carefully for further creatures. Though it had definitely been eerie to find the body of the creature in the apartment gone, it was startling to find the ones in the hallway gone as well.

The truly frightening thing, however, was that Sam's shotgun was missing too.

"Doesn't make any sense," Dean grit out as they stood in the lobby, staring at an empty desk.

"Castiel dropped his knife, and Jonah dropped the bat, but they were still there when we woke up," Sam said, "You dropped your shotgun, Dean, but you still have it. Why would it matter that I set mine down?"

Part of Dean wanted the answer to that too, but they had to get moving. "Don't waste brain cells on it, Sammy. This place isn't exactly playing by fair rules. Let's just keep going. You got that map?" he asked, checking to make sure he was fully loaded now that he had to cover the heavier artillery on his own. At least Sam still had a knife and pistol.

The map pointed them down the long main hallway and then to the left. It was fairly straightforward, bringing them up a stairwell to the third floor where there was a fire exit to the other building. Blessedly, they didn't happen upon any monsters along the way.

Dean considered checking more rooms, but it would take too much time. If he heard anything from behind one of the doors, a sign that someone else was there then they would check, but if not then they had to get to the other building, find something or someone that could actually help them figure out what they had to do.

It didn't help that with every step he thought he heard something, a moan or creak or shriek of metal, but every time he readied to fire at the creature he assumed was about to attack them there was nothing there. This place was goading them. Tricking them. Making them second-guess themselves in the dark.

He hated having so little control. He hated that Sam was hurt and looked like he was wincing every time Dean glanced over. He hated that Castiel was practically leaning into him as they moved along, needing support to stay upright. He hated that the horrible _thing_ he had seen dragging a giant sword outside, so different from the other creatures here, reminded him so much of—

"Dean?" Sam said, jarring Dean from his thoughts.

Dean looked over and saw that they had stopped in front of a door. He really needed to pay more attention and stop getting lost up in his head.

"The map says the fire exit into the other building should be through here."

"Awesome," Dean cleared his throat, shaking his head to clear his thoughts as well. He motioned for the others to get behind him so he could steady the shotgun. For all they knew, some awful nasty was waiting on the other side of that door.

Studying it, Dean was pretty sure it swung outward. _Perfect_. Forgetting their unspoken agreement to be as quiet as possible, Dean reared back and kicked at the door jam as hard as he could. It busted open easily, but opened up to empty space, catching Dean so off-guard he started to tip forward.

"Shit!"

That free-falling feeling had Dean by the gut for all of two seconds before he felt himself anchored by hands grabbing onto both of his arms. Sam and Cas had him. They pulled him back from where he had pitched dangerously. Maybe kicking the door down in this case instead of just opening it had not been his best idea.

"What the _hell_?" Dean gasped, looking up sharply at Sam, "You said it was a fire exit!"

"It is!" Sam defended. Then he peered out the door down the three stories to the ground, "Uhh…_was_. I think that's the fire escape part on the ground down there. But it's not that far down. And we can't be more than a yard or so from the other building."

There was no door on the opposing side, just open space into the other building where a door had once been, probably gone the same way the fire escape walkway had been made gone.

Sam was right, though, it wasn't all that far to jump, and three stories wasn't really _that_ far down.

"We'll just jump across then?" Jonah asked.

"Trust me, we've had to do worse," Sam offered, "It's no problem."

"But you're hurt," Jonah protested, "And Cas here can barely walk on his own."

Guy had a point. "I'll go first," Dean volunteered, pretending his heart wasn't racing a little from having almost fallen through the door.

It wasn't as if he hadn't jumped from buildings before, but that was usually without thinking, spur of the moment. If he had to stop and consider it then he always went back to his whole height and flying problem and…_damn it._

"I'll go first," Dean said again, "Maybe there's something on the other side, broken up wood or something, maybe the door from the other building, and we can use it like a bridge. If not then at least I'll be on the other side to help everyone across. Okay?"

Jonah, Sam, and Castiel seemed satisfied enough with that. They all just looked so generally scared, and Dean could tell that Sam especially wanted to protest about Dean going first, putting himself in harm's way, like he always did, but it was the smartest thing they could do.

Dean handed his shotgun to Sam to make the jump easier, tossed his companions a devil-may-care grin like he wasn't as freaked as they were, and turned to the open door.

Just a quick little jump.

_Damn_ Dean hated his life sometimes.

tbc...

* * *

A/N: See, that's not REALLY a cliffy. Not like the others. I'm loving this, so I hope you're loving it too. This is turning out to have more slashy undertones than I intended, but eh, what can ya do? I'm thinking we're going to get to see Jimmy in this fic too, as in with no Cas in him, though how that happens you'll have to stay tuned to find out.

Crim


	12. Part 12 Sam

_Part 12 – Sam_

* * *

Sam couldn't help the way his heart trip-hammered when Dean leapt from their building to the next. He knew how Dean felt about heights. He had only ever really seen Dean freak out when they were flying, but he knew better than to think that leaping a few yards over open air was an easy feat for his brother.

Sam breathed relief only after Dean landed safely on the other side.

Dean knew how to land properly when thrown, falling, or jumping. He rolled slightly, hitting a little hard on his knees but not too badly. Sam watched as Dean gathered himself up, checked to make sure he hadn't lost any weapons in the jump, and started looking around the dark room.

"Here!" Sam called across, tossing the flashlight after Dean. Dean caught it easily and flipped the light on. It was too narrow an opening through the door for Sam to see much of the room Dean was in, but Dean didn't look startled or horrified by anything the light was illuminating.

Then Dean's face scrunched.

"What is it?" Sam asked.

"I don't know. Looks like some sorta mannequin on the bed in here. No monsters though. This is another apartment. Why would the fire exit escape into someone's apartment?" Dean turned back to the opening, flashing the light over at Sam, Cas, and Jonah.

"Do not expect sense from the layout of this place," Castiel said in a voice that was at least a little stronger than it had been when he first stopped seizing, "The town changes to suit you. There are no concrete rules. Only the certainty of death."

Sam turned to the angel beside him, who was currently leaning heavily against Jonah as he had been leaning against Dean before. Castiel never looked happy, really, or optimistic, but to see such brokenness on an angel was enough to make Sam's pulse speed up in worry.

Castiel noticed Sam's scrutiny and seemed to jump back to himself out of that fatalistic mentality. "My apologies," the angel said, "I should not be so negative."

Something about Castiel's formalities always made Sam want to smile. He touched a hand to Castiel's arm, looking to Jonah with resolve too. "We're going to be okay. You were able to help me, Cas. That's already something. Anything after those acid creatures is going to be a piece of cake." Of course Sam didn't mention that his wounds still throbbed and he was speaking hushed more because it hurt to speak at all than to make sure creatures didn't overhear them.

"Yeah, Cas," Jonah joined in, adjusting Castiel against him so he could help the angel stand more easily, "The marks on Sam here barely look like he got hit at all."

Sam smiled at Jonah for his help. The mechanic had been outside the bathroom when Castiel healed Sam, so he hadn't seen that more than just a little water in the wounds was the reason Sam only had bad scars. Sam was thankful Jonah hadn't thought to question that. Explaining to Jonah that the guy he was currently helping stay upright was actually an _angel_ would open a lot of doors they didn't have time to deal with right now.

Turning back to Dean, Sam saw a concerned look haunting his brother's face. Dean didn't like giving false hope to people, figuring the truth was better because then nobody had to be disappointed if things turned out wrong. Well, Sam couldn't think like that now. Things had been bad enough for them before they even ended up in this town. Sam had to be optimistic about _something_.

"There's nothing over here to use as a bridge between the buildings," Dean said, "You're all just going to have to jump. Cas, you go first. I'm right here to catch you if you don't quite make it." Dean set the flashlight and his weapons down on the floor, returning to the edge of the other building so he could grab onto Castiel when the angel made his leap.

It was strange, thinking that an angel needed to jump like the rest of them. Sam had always imagined angels having wings. According to Dean, Cas _did_ have wings, but he couldn't use them normally when he was inside Jimmy, encased in human skin. There was always the sound of flapping whenever Castiel appeared or disappeared, but it must be different somehow, different enough that Cas actually looked a little scared at the prospect of jumping.

Sam took Castiel from Jonah, guiding the angel to the edge of the doorway.

"Do you have enough strength for this?" Sam asked him.

Castiel hesitated, but eventually nodded. "I…should be able to jump. _Landing_, however…"

"I got ya, Cas," Dean called over supportively. At least one of them was still in perfect health. Sam was feeling a lot better himself, but since his wounds still stung, they were really distracting.

"You'll be fine," Sam assured Castiel.

Looking much more alert and steady than he had earlier, Castiel nodded again, clutched each side of the doorway, and then reared back. He leapt easily across to the other side, where Dean helped steady the angel's landing. Sam couldn't help smiling to himself at how tightly Castiel clung to Dean before finally letting go with a bashful look.

"Okay, Jonah, you're next," Sam gestured the mechanic forward.

"Wait now, shouldn't you go first?" Jonah protested, "You're hurt too, remember. I can jump that distance just fine."

"My wounds aren't that bad. And I'm the one with the experience and the gun," Sam insisted, "Better if I'm the last one over here alone than you, Jonah."

Jonah looked skeptical but still came forward and prepped himself to leap from their building to the other side. "More experience with what?" he grumbled, "Hunting? Why do I get the feeling you boys don't shoot down _ducks_?"

Okay, so maybe Jonah wasn't as oblivious as Sam had been thinking. "We have experience with things like this, okay?" Sam admitted, casting Dean an acknowledging look for admitting that much. Dean just shrugged. Sam couldn't see Castiel anymore, and assumed that Dean had forced the angel to sit down.

Without asking anymore questions, Jonah made his jump. He was bigger than Castiel, but Dean managed to help steady Jonah fairly easily too.

"Okay, Sammy," Dean immediately turned back to the doorway, ready to catch Sam, "Hurry it on up so we can keep moving."

Sam smirked to himself. That was Dean code for 'be careful, little brother'. Sam was confident he could make the jump, but he was larger than all of them. He ended up miscalculating his leap, and rather than landing in Dean's arms, or jumping short so that Dean would have to haul his ass up from falling over the side, Sam plowed right into Dean and knocked both of them over onto the floor.

"God _damn_ it," Dean groaned from beneath Sam when they stopped rolling, "How much do you weigh, Jumbo, a half ton?"

"Sorry," Sam croaked. Landing like that hadn't exactly helped his sore arm and neck. He rolled off of Dean and took a moment to catch his breath.

He could see Castiel leaned back against the wall beside the doorway they had all leapt through, looking as small and human as ever. Jonah was staring at the bed in the room that had that mannequin Dean had mentioned. It was kind of creepy, just lying there on the bed like it was sleeping.

"Don't suppose that map you snagged shows much of this building?" Dean asked, already up on his feet, reaching a hand down to help hoist Sam up too.

Sam cringed a little when Dean pulled him up. "Just the first hallway before it cuts off," Sam said, "The hallway outside this room. There are a few other apartments, but I'm not sure what else." Sam wanted to sit back down, but they didn't have time. He pulled the map out again to study it.

"You okay, Cas?" Dean moved over to the angel to help him up as well.

"I am…much better, thank you," Castiel replied, though Sam wondered how much that was true. Even Castiel's voice shook a little when he spoke. Seizing like that couldn't be an easy thing to recover from.

"I can see where the stairwell is in this building," Sam said, "But that's about it. We should head there. Make our way down."

"And then what?" Dean huffed, "Do we actually have a destination in mind? Stay away from monsters, find Lilith, whatever, but do we actually know where we should even look? Lilith could be anywhere."

Sam frowned at Dean over the top of the map. Of course he knew all that too, but what else could they do other than keep moving.

A sudden clinking noise alerted Sam to his right, where Jonah had moved to the fireplace. "What did you find there, Jonah?" Sam decided to avoid Dean's questions for now, since he didn't have an answer either.

Jonah's hand was moving slowly along the top of the mantle. Sam couldn't see what was there until Dean flashed the light on rows and rows of bottles. Jonah jumped, as if he hadn't heard Sam, as if maybe he had forgotten he wasn't alone until Dean illuminated everything.

"It's all…liquor," Jonah said haltingly.

"That's what those are?" Dean exclaimed, heading over to the mantle to join Jonah, "Damn, that's some collection. Who keeps liquor on a mantle instead of behind a bar or in a cabinet?" The light from the flashlight lit up more of that side of the room as Dean went over there, peering at the many bottles that looked all mostly full.

Jonah seemed stricken, bothered by the bottles, but Sam's attention was drawn more immediately to the wall above the mantle.

"Dean…" Sam said, and began moving slowly toward them.

"What, Sammy?" Dean asked without looking back.

"_Dean_," Sam said with a touch of annoyance. Dean really could be too one-track sometimes. "Look." Sam reached his brother, grabbed onto Dean's hand that was holding the flashlight and pointed the light up at the wall. There was a message written in sloppy handwriting.

In _blood_.

"Holy…shit." Dean gasped as he steadied the light.

Squinting in the dark, Sam strained to read what it said. "The bottom of the bottle is the bottom of the pit," he began, "Run, run, you can't escape it." The subtle reminder that there was no way out of this town made Sam shudder. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Dean set the bottle he had snagged back up on top of the mantle. "A warning against alcoholism?" he snarked.

Right. "Maybe, but I doubt the town would be that blunt about it. Or about anything. It must be some kind of clue. Bottom of the pit…?" Sam repeated.

"Hell?" Dean supplied.

"Let's just…get out of here, okay?" said Jonah, sounding strange and especially anxious for some reason.

Castiel joined them by the fireplace. His expression was severe as he grabbed Dean by the arm. "The locket, Dean. We must try to open it."

Sam had almost forgotten. They had assumed the locket was some sort of clue too.

Obediently, Dean took the locket out of his pocket, a small silver thing, oval shaped, with the words 'yours forever' engraved on the back. Dean handed the flashlight to Sam so he could better pull at the edges of the locket, but it wouldn't budge. Dean gave the locket to the angel, but Castiel couldn't get it to open either.

They didn't have anything that could properly pry the locket open without busting it, and Castiel seemed reluctant to ruin it, as if that would come with consequences.

"We'll have to see if we find anything along the way," Dean said, pocketing the locket again, "Jonah's right, we should get moving. If the town leaves us clues then maybe we need to start looking for more. If one doesn't make sense, maybe we need two. Maybe there's a sequence or something. Because right now I have no idea what that message is trying to tell us."

Deep down, Sam thought it would be better if they stayed, tried to work the message out, tried harder to open the locket, but the longer they stayed in one place the more vulnerable they were. It also made sense that the town wouldn't give them everything they needed in one clue. If all of the people in this town connected somehow, then maybe all the buildings did too. Maybe each place they went was meant to give them another small piece of the puzzle to figuring out what was going on and where Lilith was.

"Come on, Cas," Dean pulled the angel after him toward the door, looking at Sam imploringly. What more could Sam do but follow.

He looked over at Jonah, still beside the mantle, still looking strange and halting as he gazed at the bottles of liquor and then back at the mannequin positioned on the bed. The town was setting a scene. Jonah might know. In fact, Sam was certain Jonah knew something he wasn't telling.

"Jonah…"

"Let's go," the mechanic turned back to Sam, moving immediately for the door.

Sam frowned. The town was trying to show them something alright. But what?

tbc...

* * *

A/N: I have the whole story planned, including...multiple endings like the video game. :-)

Crim


	13. Part 13 Castiel

_Part 13 – Castiel_

* * *

As they left the apartment and moved carefully through the narrow hallway to find some way out, or some clue that might tell them where they needed to be, Castiel was thankful to have Dean's hand supporting him with a firm grip on his arm. The angel was still shaken from being ripped out of the Otherworld, a place unfit for an angel, or anyone not part of Silent Hill's design. Dean's close presence soothed him, made him feel stronger, safer.

"I don't know what to do here, Cas," Dean said in a soft voice, "If we need clues then should we be checking all these rooms, or would that be a waste of time? We gotta find Lilith, but these monsters…"

"We might wander here forever if we cannot find where the seal is meant to be broken," Castiel said.

"I figured you'd say that," Dean grinned. Then he was pulling Castiel along to the nearest door. It was locked. Dean kicked at it, but Castiel stopped him from kicking again.

"The town will show us the way. If a door is locked or broken then either there is nothing there or we will be given a key," he said.

Dean looked back at him skeptically. "Why would the town be so accommodating? It's trying to kill us."

"That's exactly why," Sam said as he caught up to Dean and Castiel with Jonah in tow, "It has to lead us toward the seal because that's how we'll get closest to the worst creatures and biggest dangers. Besides, it needs us dead to break the seal. Right?" the taller Winchester looked to Castiel.

There were some added details to all that, but Castiel nodded anyway.

"Well, great," Dean sneered, "So when are we going to stumble upon a conveniently written combination code to get us through some secret passageway, coz I am getting real sick of wandering around."

Most of the time, it was difficult for Castiel to understand the way Dean's mind worked. He was not a typical human.

"I do not believe the correct passageways are secret, Dean, we simply need to find them," he said.

As usual, Dean shot Castiel a look that said the angel had clearly missed something in translation. "Nevermind, Cas," Dean said. He looked to his brother. "We better check all these rooms for more clues or we'll never find Lilith. Might get tedious, but I don't know what else to do."

"You keep talking about this Lilith," Jonah said, still looking rather haunted after their time in that apartment with the mannequin on the bed and all those full liqueur bottles, "Who is she?"

"She may hold the key to our survival and getting out of here," Castiel explained simply, hoping to avoid further questions that they did not have time to answer, "Finding her quickly would be best."

"Oh." Jonah's brow was furrowed but he didn't press for more. He seemed rather distracted.

In Castiel's experience, humans were more often overly curious. They wanted answers, all of the answers, right away. It was strange that Jonah let the matter drop so easily. He hadn't even asked about the seal.

Peering more deeply into the man's soul, Castiel gazed on the darkness so prevalent in Jonah. It was stronger now, that dark taint, like a cloud of ash, like the very ash falling outside in the streets of Silent Hill. Jonah was not an evil man, Castiel was sure of that, but like Sam and Dean there was more than just fear that filled the man's heart with darkness. He had secrets. He had knowledge he was not sharing. But in this place, depowered as he was, Castiel could not read what it was.

"Stop staring at me like that!" Jonah snapped at Castiel, making the angel flinch at the unexpected outburst. Jonah pushed passed the rest of them, moving down the hallway to kick at the next door down the line.

It did not open.

"Jonah, what the hell?" Dean ground out, going to the man quickly and leaving Castiel to stand on his own.

Castiel watched as Jonah struggled in Dean's firm hold, not sure what he could do to help.

"Calm down, man, none of this is helping!" Dean said, "Cas is just worried about you, and with good reason, seems like, if you're gonna freak out on us. What is with you?"

After the utterance of Dean's sensible words, and his continued hold on Jonah from behind just barely overpowering him, Jonah looked like he was calming. "I just…I can't…stand…all this not knowing bullshit. This is a fucking nightmare." He shook Dean off, leaning forward against the door he had been kicking.

"We'll figure it out, Jonah," Sam approached them cautiously, "We're all getting out of here alive. But for that to even be possible, we need to keep our heads together. None of us is at our best right now."

Castiel felt like seconding that, but doubted it would be helpful. He wasn't helpful at all in this, how could he be helpful when all he was capable of was following Dean around. He could still hear the faint echo of his brothers' voices, murmuring about him, about the danger and the potential that Castiel was lost to them forever, just like the Winchesters…

_Lost forever._

"Cas?" Dean was suddenly back at Castiel's side, taking his arm again and looking into his face with concern, "We gotta keep moving."

"Yes," Castiel replied, allowing himself to be led on, not wanting to be a burden or the bearer of bad news.

They had to reach the seal. They had to stop Lilith. Castiel could not afford to lose his focus on that. Above all else, he had to make sure that his charge made it to the end of this, even if he had to sacrifice himself in order to see that through.

Jimmy was terrified within Castiel, even without those fatalistic thoughts. Castiel could not protect his vessel from what they were seeing and feeling, not as he would have been able to at full strength. Jimmy knew everything Castiel knew and was seeing all of it too. In their joined mind all Castiel could hear from James Novak was the same mantra repeating.

_Don't leave me here…don't leave me here…don't leave me…_

A few doors along their path opened without problem, but there was nothing of interest inside. There was another liquor bottle in one. Two in another. Then three, as if each time the amount was increasing, reminding Castiel of the room they had first entered, the room that seemed to be the cause of Jonah's agitation.

There didn't seem to be enough of interest here otherwise, or any further clues, so they decided to head for an exit and continue on to another building. There could still be other people around, after all, and they had not yet encountered Aaron, the man Sam and Dean had first met. There was no telling how many people were actually here until they found them all.

"You good to walk on your own yet, Cas?" Dean asked as they worked their way down flights of stairs toward ground level.

In fact, Castiel felt much better, but he was reluctant to admit that since Dean's presence was one of the few things helping him keep his head. He could not lie to Dean though. "I am fine now, I think. You needn't hold me anymore," he said.

Dean seemed to find Castiel's words strange, like he often did, but didn't comment more than offering a somewhat uncomfortable look as he let Castiel go.

They reached the bottom of the stairs where a bright exit sign glared to tell them there was an immediate way out. All of them readied what weapons they could, glad to be getting out of such an enclosed building, even though being outside wasn't much better within the limits of Silent Hill.

Dean took point, as was his custom, but just when he had his hand on the door, ready to push it open, Castiel felt a rush of panic and called out for Dean to stop. He could feel it. He could feel it coming even before the familiar sound of that awful siren began to call out to them from beyond the door.

"The Otherworld is returning…"

tbc...

* * *

A/N: Hope you're still reading and enjoying this. More soon!

Crim


	14. Part 14 Dean

_Part 14 – Dean_

* * *

One thought clanged through Dean's mind.

Not again.

_Not again, not again, not again…_

Not only had being in the Otherworld been a lot worse for them as far as monster quotient, but Sam had nearly had his face melted off and Castiel had been reduced to a weak, shaking mass Dean was forced to cart around for twenty minutes.

This was _bad_.

As the walls were stripped down to the burnt and dark version of the Otherworld, the siren blaring loudly from outside, the situation quickly got a whole lot worse when Jonah suddenly took off back upstairs.

"Jonah, wait!" Sam called after the mechanic, but Jonah was practically sprinting up the stairs. It didn't seem to be in fear, but more like urgency to _get_ somewhere, not just urgency to get away from whatever might lay in wait for them outside.

Like that not-quite-man with the pyramid shaped helmet. The one that made Dean think too vividly of blood and torn tissue and screaming souls.

Dean shook the thought off. They had to keep their wits about them. Jonah could run into any number of nasties upstairs without help. So he, Sam, and Castiel hurried after Jonah's quickly fleeing form to try and stop the fool before he could get too far away.

"Just hang on a second, man!" Dean yelled, hating that his voice might alert more creatures to their whereabouts, but not sure what else to do, "Where do you think you're going? We have to stay together!"

"He is returning to the room," Castiel said from beside Dean, not as out of breath as Dean would have expected, but certain in his deduction.

"The room we came in through?" Sam questioned, "Why?"

"I do not know," said Castiel, ashamed it seemed that he could not give them a better answer.

Dean hated being surrounded by such brooding martyrs. "Doesn't matter. We gotta catch up to him before he does something stupid."

They followed after Jonah all the way back up the stairs and down the long corridor toward the room they had first entered the building through. More and more of the world around them burned away to reveal that strange mechanical version of itself as they ran, becoming bare-boned and menacing all over again.

Despite being brought into the Otherworld, Dean could not believe their luck that they did not run into any of those acid creatures this time, or anything else for that matter. When they reached the room Jonah had returned to, Dean had the most nauseating feeling that what was about to happen was going to be much worse than dealing with those previous monsters.

"Jonah, what are you doing?" Sam started with some caution after they had burst into the room.

Jonah was standing near the mantle of liquor bottles, staring at the bed with the mannequin atop it. Only now the mannequin, the whole room, was different, changed in the Otherworld. Now, the mannequin looked like a corpse, fresh and gooey with melted tissue, its sinew coating the worn mattress like it was glued there, looking gaunt and disgusting.

"Jonah," Sam said more firmly, walking closer to the man who was still just staring, his hand on the mantle, touching one of the bottles with his fingertips.

"I didn't think I'd had too much. I hadn't. I was okay to drive, I hadn't had too much," Jonah said in a low-toned rant, "I hadn't. I _hadn't_. But then…that truck came out of nowhere and I didn't know how to avoid it. The…the boys were in the backseat…"

Dean didn't know how he should be reacting to this. What exactly was Jonah confessing? And what did it have to do with that corpse?

"I should have stopped then. I should have stopped. I didn't need to drink them away…after losing them both like that."

"Jonah," Sam tried again.

Slowly, as if finally hearing Sam, Jonah turned his head to look at them. His expression was hollow, haunted. "Afterward, my wife, she…she killed herself. Took a handful of pills and just died there on the bed. I didn't find her until morning, I was so…so far gone."

"You said your family was waiting for you back home," Dean stated the obvious, remembering when they had first heard that Jonah had a wife and sons, just like their own father.

"No one's waiting for me anymore…" Jonah thrashed out at the bottles on the mantle, sweeping them all to the floor. "I should have been the one that died, not them!" he cried, "It should have been me!"

The shattering of glass and spilling of liquor made Dean flinch back, but at the same time he was ready to rush up to Jonah and hold onto the other man as tightly as he could until he finally calmed down. They didn't have time for this, even if Silent Hill was set on torturing them all and it felt wrong to rush such grief.

Dean glanced only briefly at Sam and Castiel before starting to move forward, but he didn't manage to grab onto Jonah at all before a sudden noise had him stopping in his tracks.

There was an awful creaking sound, an screech of metal against a wooden floor…from the bed _moving_.

Dean was certain in his hatred for Silent Hill when he looked over at the bed and saw that gooey rotten corpse atop it pulsating with life.

"Dean!" Castiel called out.

A strong grip from two hands, one from the angel and one from Sam, grabbed Dean by his arms and pulled him back. They got him out of the way just in time as the bed lurched up, folding grotesquely into something like a wild animal but still a _bed_. The corpse attached to it was alive somehow, in some twisted way, but it was also one with the bed, some awful creature made from Jonah's past horrors suddenly come to life.

Jonah screamed at the sight but did not move out of the way. The bed crashed into him, knocking him hard against the mantle.

Dean could not even begin to think of how to fight this thing. It was more than just a monster, it was _personal_, personal for Jonah, maybe even the actual corpse of the guy's wife for all they knew. But personal or not, they had to take this thing down before it tore Jonah apart. The body's boney and shredded arms were already reaching for Jonah, calling out to him practically, like a god damn siren.

Dean readied his shotgun.

Sam pulled a pistol.

Castiel had his borrowed knife.

All at once they acted.

Dean thought he had aimed well, but his first shot ricocheted off one of the metal posts of the bed, as did Sam's, and Castiel, who had lunged forward, was only able to stab at the thing's legs before it whipped about and sent him flying across the room. The angel crumbled too human-like to the floor.

"Aim for the body!" Dean shouted at Sam as he rounded around the other side of the bed, gauging carefully to be sure he didn't accidentally hit Jonah, who remained pinned against the mantle amidst all that broken glass.

Sam could barely get around to aim at anything above the midsection, but he got in a few lucky shots, while Dean tried his best to get closer to the head. These creatures did not go down easy, and this…_thing_ they were fighting now was obviously stronger than the acid monsters.

As they took shot after shot, darting back and forth to avoid the arms of the corpse or the legs of the damn bed, Dean could hear Jonah sobbing, not trying to escape his fate but remaining willingly pinned.

Castiel appeared with the knife again, pushing passed Dean to get dangerously close to the head of the creature and those snaking, summoning arms. The angel leapt up and jammed the knife to the hilt through the creature's right eye, finally getting the thing to thrash in pain and eventually start to still.

Black, old blood as if to prove that this creature was alive and also _not_ alive, sprayed like droplets of gore onto Castiel's face and the front of his white button down shirt.

He didn't look at all anymore like the angel Dean was used to.

A scream erupted from Jonah, noticing that the creature was dead, and that he was still pinned by half the bed. He stared horrified at the body, molded as it was to the mattress, a great mess of torn muscle, blood, and gore.

"You should have let her kill me," he said in a low whisper, closing his eyes tightly as he remained pressed to the mantle, "You should have let her kill me…"

God _damn_ did Dean hate martyrs, deserving of retribution or not.

He stalked over to Jonah, pushing around Sam, and began forcing the bed creature out of the way to free Jonah whether the guy wanted freedom or not.

"Enough of this bullshit," Dean said, "This place is trying to mess with us, get inside our heads. _Don't let it._ You did wrong by your family, fine, but you're still here. Now get a hold of yourself and move your _ass_. We need to find a safer place until the Otherworld passes by again. _Now_." Dean grabbed Jonah and pushed him toward the door, making the man stumble over the broken glass of the liquor bottles.

He looked so broken himself, and Dean understood that kind of pain, he really did, but they did not have time for sympathies.

Sam and Castiel came up beside Dean, neither countering him, though Sam looked like he wished he could offer a shoulder for Jonah to cry on. And Cas, _damn_, he just looked so human, worn and tired and covered in blood.

"Let's go."

Dean led the others back down the same path they had already gone before, slower this time in case fresh monsters decided to rear their heads. It was eerily calm and quiet for the Otherworld, which worried Dean as they made their way back downstairs. Jonah was quiet too, sluggish but moving, and the others were dead silent beside him.

This place really was some great depth of evil, striving to drive them mad before it killed them. The Otherworld was still all around them with its darkened and red surfaces like living embers. Dean approached that same door they had almost escaped through before, and readied for the worst.

"Are we really heading out there while it's like this?" Sam asked, quietly and close beside Dean so Jonah wouldn't hear, "What are we supposed to do with Jonah like this, Dean? He's in no condition to fight anything. I think I'm starting to see what we have in common," he added forlornly.

Dean was starting to get that too. Death. Guilt. Grief. Just what Dean always wanted to have in common with other people.

All he could bring himself to do was shrug. They had to keep moving. They needed to find Lilith, find the seal and get the hell out of there before they became permanent fixtures.

"Everybody ready?" Dean asked, checking to make sure everyone had a weapon on them, even Jonah, who was clinging loosely to his bat.

Dean hardly felt like everyone really was ready even after they had all nodded, what with Sam still burnt by acid, albeit seemingly okay, Jonah acting completely out of it, and Cas winded and sluggish, but they had little choice.

When Dean thought it was as safe as it was going to get, he opened the door and checked quickly for immediate enemies. There was no way to be sure if there were creatures hidden behind the large exit door, so Dean checked as well as he could for enemies and when he found nothing but ash he motioned for the others to follow him.

Castiel went first, then Sam, and finally Jonah. They just had to move, as quickly as they could, for another building where they could regroup and set out for clues on where Lilith and the seal might be. It should have been easy enough without any immediately visible monsters.

But when Dean paused before beginning their trek to make sure all of his companions were with him, he saw Jonah still standing back by the door, looking defeated, like he didn't want to keep going, like he didn't care anymore what happened to him. He looked up at Dean and his eyes were filled with a tiredness that Dean recognized only too well.

Jonah would not be going with them.

As that awful thought struck Dean, he saw too late that there was nothing he could do. As if having come from nothing but the ashen black air itself, the too large man with the pyramid head was suddenly there, right there, his long large blade already half raised behind Jonah as he appeared.

"No!" Dean cried out, trying to run to Jonah, but kept from that foolish task by Sam and Castiel hanging onto him for dear life and holding him back. They were pleading and screaming at him, but that awful monster, so much worse than any of the others, was already swinging.

Jonah just stood there, not even bothering to turn and look, simply accepting that his life was over because that was what he wanted.

But Dean wasn't really looking at Jonah as the blade swung cleanly, cutting the mechanic into two grotesque halves. He could only look at the pyramid helmet, the muscled body, the joy in which the knife like a sword was wielded.

"No…"

"Dean!" rang out Sam and Castiel's voices, but Dean was not listening.

_No_…

tbc...

* * *

A/N: Muwahaha! ...reviews? ;-)

Crimson


	15. Part 15 Sam

_Part 15 – Sam_

* * *

"Dean!" Sam shouted at his immobile brother, trying to get Dean to move, run, _anything_ other than just staring like he was made of stone, with cries and mumbles of despondent no's that worried Sam even more than the monster before them.

"Dean, we must move now!" Castiel called as well, his hands twisted up in Dean's shirt as he tried in vain to pull Dean away from the scene and the threat of that blade.

Sam hooked an arm halfway around Dean's waist and began pulling as Castiel was pulling, threatening to hoist Dean up over his shoulders if he had to.

That awful not-man with the pyramid shaped helmet tilted its unseen head at them and gripped its sword a little tighter. Jonah's blood coated the blade, the mechanic left in two horrific halves on the ground, still twitching, still more or less _alive_. But Sam knew he could do nothing for Jonah now, he could only save Dean, protect and save _Dean_, like Dean had so often saved him.

Sam pulled and pulled on his brother, with Castiel trying to help. Then, just as the pyramid head creature began moving with determination toward them and Sam was certain he would soon cut them all down, a shotgun released a shell into the beast's shoulder, making the arm holding that large blade flinch back.

Sam risked a glance behind them to see where the shot had come from, and could not believe who was standing only a few feet from them holding _his_ missing firearm.

"Aaron!" Sam called out, blinking his eyes hard to be sure he was actually seeing the polo shirt clad young man with the dirty blonde hair that had ditched them earlier.

"This way!" Aaron yelled back, firing off another shot and motioning for Sam and the others to follow him.

There was no more time for stalling. Sam used all of his remaining strength to haul Dean around and push him down the street _away_ from certain death.

Finally, Dean started to listen to him, obliging and following the others as they all started to run. But Dean's expression was hollow, haunted, as they took off for the nearest sanctuary.

Sam noticed right away as they caught up to Aaron that the guy still had their bag filled with provisions, along with Sam's own shotgun that had disappeared from the apartment complex. It disturbed Sam that Aaron had been the one to take the weapon, that it hadn't just vanished into the Otherworld as a cruel joke, but there wasn't time to question their rescuer now.

Aaron also seemed to know where he was going, leading them quickly with an apparent destination in mind. Aaron was from Silent Hill, he should know the place well enough, but Sam was still wary, maybe even more wary because of that. He knew better than to take his eyes off of Aaron as they continued on, watching for some inevitable trap.

Then Sam heard the first howl. Dean, running alongside him, seized up and stumbled to a halt. Castiel stopped as well, looking stricken for Dean's sake. The howls continued, like the cry of wolves. Or wild dogs.

_Hellhounds_.

Sam could see panic in his brother's eyes, something so rarely seen at all in Dean Winchester, though Sam knew Dean felt panic more often than he ever let on.

This new panic was so much more intense than anything Sam had ever seen from Dean, something he could only compare with the last expressions he had seen on Dean's face when hellhounds ripped him apart all those months ago and dragged his soul to Hell.

Of course Dean was imagining that very scenario, and Sam couldn't blame him, having to hear those howls, being in this place that was some damned suburb of Hell anyway, with creatures like that Pyramid Head thing stalking slowly toward them with a blade still dripping sticky with _red_.

They had to get somewhere safe. _Now_. Sam wouldn't let the same horrors befall Dean again. _Never again_.

They could hear the hellhounds getting closer, and then, as Sam grabbed Dean's arm to get him moving again, to follow after Aaron who had stopped several yard ahead and was yelling for them to hurry, they _saw_ the hellhounds too.

Sam had never been able to see them before, not like Dean had when his time was almost up. But in Silent Hill it was easy to see through the veil because they were beyond it anyway, in the Otherworld, and those awful beasts not quite like dogs were terrible to look at. They were like black German Shepherds but torn and bloody, their fur matted, or maybe not even fur, and their eyes burned red.

Aaron was heading right, turning the corner down the street and still yelling for them to follow. The hellhounds were to the left, three of them. Aaron must not have spotted them, focused on his destination, but Sam, Dean, and Castiel saw them clearly.

"There is no time!" Castiel called out, so frightened, so concerned for their safety when he should be worrying about his own, "Hurry! He is still coming!"

_He_ being the very ominous not-man with the impossibly large blade who was starting to gain on them. Escaping him was more important than worrying about the hellhounds, though they had to be cautious as they raced to catch up to Aaron. Sam had never seen them as Dean had seen them, but he remembered well how fast those dogs could move.

"The hospital!" Castiel cried, looking ahead to where Aaron was already waiting for them and gesturing hurriedly.

The hellhounds were hot on their heels as they rounded the corner, and Sam wondered if they could actually outrun them. Dean was so pale beside him, running so fast, so determined to escape their howls and snapping jaws. Dean reached Aaron several seconds before Sam and Castiel caught up.

Scrambling inside through the thankfully unlocked doorway, they hurried to shut and lock the doors behind them. The hospital entryway and waiting room was as burnt and red with streaks of blood as anywhere else in the Otherworld, offering them nothing but momentary reprieve if they could not find something sturdy to help bar the door.

Sam glanced around quickly to see if there was anything suitable for them to use, but what he found instead was Dean, shaking and breathing heavily as he leaned back on the remnants of a front desk, looking so lost within himself that Sam hardly recognized him.

"Dean…?"

It took a moment for Dean to look up, as if he hadn't quite recognized his name. Sam could barely stand the intensity of the stare when Dean's eyes met his. Dean mumbled something, gruff, too low and soft for Sam to make out.

Aaron and Castiel were pressed against the door in case the hellhounds or something worse tried to get in, but Sam stepped away from them to approach Dean.

"What?" he prompted, so damn worried suddenly that he knew his voice broke a little on the word.

Dean licked his lips. Ran a hand back through his hair. All of his usual nervous gestures. "It's…me," he said, still gruff, still low, "It's supposed to be me."

"What are you talking about?" Sam questioned, hating seeing Dean like this, and hating even more that he did not understand the cause, other than the sight of Jonah cut in half by that monster. But as horrible as that had been it wasn't as if Dean hadn't seen such horrors in the past.

Dean's brow furrowed further as he bit his lip this time and ran a hand harder through his hair. "That…_thing_ out there…that killed Jonah," he said, "It's supposed to be…me. When I was in Hell."

Something cold and yet strangely hot at the same time spread throughout Sam's breastbone like dry ice. He thought he heard Castiel gasp behind him, or maybe it was a sigh, a sigh like he had known the truth all along and had merely hoped Dean would never notice.

Dean smiled at Sam, false and bitter and terrible. "I liked to use knives," he said.

Bile rose up in Sam's throat. He didn't know how to respond to that.

The siren outside began to wane as they stood there, and little by little the chipped away pieces of reality that had been lost to the Otherworld began to paint their way back onto the walls. Sam felt a pang in his chest as the siren faded, but Dean was the first to stumble.

Sam watched as his brother tried vainly to cling to the desk, collapsing in moments to the floor in a shivering heap. Sam barely had time to turn and see that Aaron and Castiel were fairing similarly before he too felt darkness overtaking him, pulling him down until he crumbled to the dirty floor of the hospital.

tbc...

* * *

A/N: Some of you caught on early about PH. Like?

Crim


	16. Part 16 Castiel

_Part 16 – Castiel_

* * *

At first Castiel was not certain of what was happening. Jimmy's body was convulsing again, of that he knew, and they were therefore free of the Otherworld. But something was wrong, much worse than before.

Castiel was being expelled from Silent Hill.

That awful realization struck the angel all at once, filling him with terror for his and Jimmy's sakes both.

Before he had the chance to hang on all the tighter to Jimmy's form, Castiel was no longer within it. He was hovering above Jimmy's body, forced out, all of his glorious light, his true form, revealed for all to see.

But just when Castiel thought he might weep that Dean or Sam might have already awakened and were struck blind by the sight of him, he saw that the Winchesters and the other young man that had been with them were not there. He was in some other room now, smaller, with only Jimmy visible.

Castiel had little time before the force of the town would manage to drive him away fully. He could see that Jimmy was already coming around, the man's shaking stilling as he blinked awareness and shielded himself from Castiel's light, though of course looking upon Castiel would not harm the salesman.

Castiel could see how terrified Jimmy was to be alone so he asked his question quickly. _'Do you accept me back?'_ he said, his voice not a normal voice anymore but something that shook the walls.

Frantically, Jimmy nodded, desperate to have what little protection Castiel was still able to provide him in this place. "Please!" Jimmy yelled over the sheer din of Castiel's presence.

Then, as difficult as it was to form back together with Jimmy, Castiel took him, this evil place be damned. He knew, however, even as he was settling back into Jimmy's skin that he would not be able to do this again. The next time the Otherworld claimed and then released them, he would be expelled from Jimmy's body for good, leaving the man and Castiel's charges to their fates.

As quickly as he was able, still adjusting, still remembering how his human body needed to breathe and take a moment to collect itself, Castiel took closer stock of his surroundings. He believed he was still in the hospital, judging by the décor and the furniture. He was in some kind of patient checkup room. It was dark, dusty and abandoned-looking like the rest of the town.

Castiel checked his body, patted down the now dirty and bloody button down and slacks. Tucked into the back of his pants he still had the borrowed knife from Dean. At least he was not entirely helpless.

Standing, feeling the strain in Jimmy's body so much more pronounced than before, he willed himself to stay conscious, stay alert, and prepared to head out into the hallway to seek out his companions.

Then Castiel saw the message, the messy blood-written message scrawled across the wall. It was almost identical to the one they had found in that room with the liquor bottles and Jonah's parody dead wife, but the message was different.

Castiel suppressed a human shiver. It was not so much a riddle this time. After reading the message over, he was certain he understood now what the people trapped in Silent Hill had in common, and he knew assuredly that Dean would not be pleased to hear the answer.

For now all he could do was hope that he would find the others quickly. He would not fair long alone. So Castiel dared to open the door of the room he had found himself in and peered out into the long corridor beyond.

It was so dark. Once the angel would have been able to see regardless, and he had hoped that maybe reconnecting with Jimmy as he had might give him back a burst of his old power, but no such luck. If anything, he was wearier now, more human.

Castiel felt fear within him stronger than Jimmy's alone. He did not like being alone like this, cut off from his brothers, and separated from Dean and the others. He held Dean's knife tightly in his hand as he ventured out.

The stillness was misleading, Castiel knew. He wasn't sure which direction to go, so he ventured toward the nearest light, drawn to it, even though he knew the creatures of this place would no doubt be drawn to the light as well.

Halfway to the light, light from an open doorway, maybe into a waiting room, Castiel heard sounds of rustling like stacks of papers and files being tossed to the floor. Perhaps the room was an office and one of those monsters was raging inside of it.

Was it more Castiel's duty to slay the creature or avoid it and seek out his charges? He wasn't sure. He chose to continue on, weighing his options as he went, and not oblivious to how he needed to clutch at the wall as he went or fear crumbling.

The noises from the room ahead grew louder. Castiel almost thought to call out for Dean or Sam, maybe it was them, but then he heard the lower murmurs of a voice that was distinctly female.

Could it be Lilith, the angel wondered. What would he do if it was? His knife would do little against her. Still, Castiel could not waver. He was an angel of the Lord and he needed to be strong if he was to accomplish anything productive in his current state. He could not slink back to the darkness and wait for rescue.

Edging closer and closer to the room, Castiel felt the sweat from his palms making his grip on the handle of the blade loosen. He could hear Jimmy's heartbeat as if it were up in his ears instead of his chest. The rustling and murmuring continued and Castiel readied himself to attack.

He dashed around the corner to enter the lit room, knife ready and defensive. There was a flash of blonde hair, a small but _not_ childlike figure, and then something hard like metal was striking the side of Castiel's head and his vision filled with spots and spasms of light.

He fell heavily to the floor.

"Oh _shit_," said the female voice that Castiel was fairly certain now was not Lilith or any host she inhabited, "Are you okay?"

tbc...

* * *

A/N: Close call, Cas. :-) Thank you all so much who are still reading despite my sporadic updating.

Crim


	17. Part 17 Dean

_Part 17 – Dean_

* * *

Dean felt as though someone had just finished using his chest as a trampoline when he suddenly awoke, gasping, clutching and clawing at the hard floor beneath him to get his bearings. Catching his breath was never easy in this place, but this time was worse.

Dean tried to remember what had happened to them last, where he was. The first thing that struck him was that he was alone in what looked like a small supply closet. There was only the faintest light from the grey world outside, pouring in through a tiny window, but Dean could see enough to know that there was no Cas, no Aaron, no Sammy.

_Sammy_.

The rest of it, what had last happened to them, what Dean had seen and come to realize, rushed to the front of his mind.

That Pyramid Head creature. Jonah. _God_, Jonah. And they had ran, made it to the hospital, but then Dean…Dean had confessed. What had he been thinking telling Sam the truth, admitting to it so awfully like that? He never wanted to see his brother look at him that way, the way Sam had just stared when Dean told him…

'_I liked to use knives.'_

Dean shuddered. That thing, that monstrous executioner out there was him; it represented him and everything he had been while he was in Hell.

Okay, so maybe it was more like him on steroids, but it was still him. Dean had known that from the first time they saw the thing, before meeting it up close and personal, because he could never shake those memories from Hell, when he was the same as any other demon off the rack and _good_ at what he did.

It was his fault Jonah had died in this place. If not for him, if not for _Dean_, then Silent Hill would never have thought up that awful beast of a not-quite-man.

If they never escaped this place is that what Dean would become again? Is that what happened if they died here, they became the thing that haunted them, a part of this Hell, like the Hell Dean had come from, and Cas and Sammy would be the ones on his rack…

Dean dug the butt of his palms into his eyes. He had to stop this. He had to calm down. He couldn't afford to give in to those memories of blood and blades and screaming. He had to find his brother, his angel, Aaron. No one else was going to die here if he could help it.

Sluggishly, Dean got up off the floor, checking to make sure he still had his weapons. His handgun was tucked into his jeans and he spotted his shotgun on the floor a few feet away. He snatched it up and checked that it was still loaded. He had almost dropped it when they were running from Pyramid Head.

Priority number one had to be finding the others. Sam was still hurt. They hadn't been able to do much for his acid burns other than Castiel's initial healing. And _Cas_. He was in no shape to fair against these creatures alone.

Dean was less concerned about Aaron, but it would still be better if they were all together.

Before leaving Dean checked the supply closet for anything useful. He didn't find much of interest other than a few empty syringe wrappers and some cotton balls, but at least he knew for certain that he was still in the hospital.

Dean was well armed and as steady and put back together as he could manage when he peered out into the hallway. It was almost completely dark, not that he was surprised. Dean thought of using his cell phone to see by, since he didn't have one of the flashlights.

Then he remembered that he could use his cell phone to detect the creatures.

He searched for it, but now that he was thinking of it again, he realized he couldn't remember the last time he had had it out, or the last time he had heard it crackle when they were in the presence of one of those monsters.

Growling to himself when he found no sign of the phone on his person, Dean realized he could have lost it at any point, and had no real way of tracking it down. He would have to continue on blind.

Since both ends of the hallway looked endless and black, Dean decided to just head right. If he was quiet enough, careful enough, he should be able to avoid the monsters and find his companions without incident. At the very least he liked being a wishful thinker, especially when thinking about anything else, about being here, alone, basically _in Hell_, had Dean standing on the threshold to losing it for good.

But he couldn't. He couldn't cop-out now. He had managed to overcome Hell and what had become of him there enough to continue hunting and act as much like the old Dean as possible.

Okay, so a little Jack Daniels helped with that on occasion too, but he was getting better, it was getting easier. At least it had been getting easier until they came to this damn town.

Dean moved with steady steps, shotgun ready and eyes alert as they adjusted to the dark. The hospital was cold and since Dean was only in a T-shirt and jeans he felt the chill climb up his arms and make the hairs stand on end. It was definitely from the cold, not fear.

_Not fear_.

A sudden crash made Dean's heart jump up into his throat. That sounded like someone falling, or maybe something crashing to the ground. There was a dim light up ahead toward the end of the hall, a room or office with an open door. Dean headed for it, listening carefully for further sounds and signs that someone was there. He hoped it was Sam, or Cas, even Aaron. He would have prayed if he actually thought anyone was listening.

Dean inched toward the door. The crash and further rustling he could now distinctly hear was coming from deep within the room. When he first peered around to look inside the dimly lit office, he couldn't see much of anything. But as he continued on inside he caught sight of a figure in the corner, a woman pressed close to the wall. It looked like a nurse.

"You alright there, sweetheart?" Dean called, still keeping his voice quiet, even though now he could see that he wasn't dealing with one of those monsters.

The woman was definitely a nurse, white dress, the hat, and _damn_ was that skirt short. It couldn't possibly be regulation, not that Dean minded the view. Of course this chick looked way too pale to be healthy and was probably scared out of her mind. She had her hands tucked in front of her and he couldn't see her face.

"It's alright," Dean said as he approached her slowly, lowering his shotgun, "I'm not going to hurt you. Stuck here just like you. I'm looking for my friends. It's gonna be okay."

The poor thing was twitching and Dean wondered if maybe she had been attacked and was injured. Aside from that, though, it was actually kind of nice getting to talk someone else down. It made it easier for Dean to push his own fears aside.

"Really, it's alright," Dean tried again, almost right beside her now, "There aren't any of those creatures around, I promise."

As Dean was reaching to touch the woman's shoulder, maybe coax her to turn around, she suddenly spun toward _him_, revealing her hands that had hold of a scalpel the size of a butcher knife.

Dean leapt back, barely avoiding being slashed at. He stared, at first immobile as he looked agape at the not quite human nurse…

..who didn't have a face.

* * *

tbc...

A/N: Sammy is next. Had to get the nurses in there, and they may have more significance if you think about it. ;-)

Crim


	18. Part 18 Sam

_Part 18 – Sam_

* * *

Sam's neck was stinging with so much pain when he roused that he could hear his own voice crying out into the dark before he had even opened his eyes. It was as if the wound from that acid-spitter had suddenly re-enflamed, sprayed anew with that burning liquid, and this time there was no convenient angel to take the majority of the pain away.

Sam realized he was alone and in an entirely different room than the entryway he remembered losing consciousness in about the time he was scrambling to his feet in search of a sink, cold water, anything to make the burning lessen. Thankfully, he was in an exam room with a bathroom, and the faucet worked. Cold water would only be a momentary reprieve, however.

Rummaging through cabinets, Sam was relieved to find real bandages and antiseptic cream to redress his wounds properly. He even lifted his eyes to the ceiling in silent grateful prayer at that, but then he had to shake his head at himself, because if angels weren't what he expected then what did that say about God?

Not to mention Sam's doubts on there even being a benevolent higher being after finding himself in _this_ place.

This was Hell, some awful suburb of it, at least, and Sam was already so shaken. How had Dean endured decades of this, of worse? Dean had been constantly caught by blades like that of the Pyramid Head creature, remade each day to be tortured again and again, unable to escape as they had here in Silent Hill so far. And then later…Dean had been the wielder of blades too.

There came that bile again, building sourly in the back of Sam's throat. It just made him so nauseous. It wasn't that he saw Dean differently, or was disappointed or ashamed of him. It wasn't that at all. But the way Dean had looked at him when he said…

'_I liked to use knives.'_

Sam shuddered, finishing up the fresh bandages over his neck quickly. He knew his brother, he knew Dean was forever changed by his time in Hell, but he also knew that somehow Dean had still managed to hang onto himself, that in most ways he was still just Dean, Sam's smart-ass, women-loving, devil-may-care brother. Sam had to help Dean see that again.

Of course first he had to _find_ his brother. Obviously, Sam was still in the hospital, though he had no idea where. Thankfully, he still had a gun on him, which would have to do until he could track down the others. Aaron had Sam's shotgun, after all.

Aaron…

Sam didn't have time to think about all of the details not adding up in this place. He ventured out of the exam room, peering out into what looked to be a long, dark hallway. Before he could even begin to explore his new surroundings, there was a sudden shotgun blast from off to his right. All Sam could think of then was _Dean_.

"Dean!" Sam called out, foolish though it may be. He was too worried, too anxious being apart from his brother in this place, not knowing what horrors Dean might be facing alone. Sam had to find him. "Dean!"

BOOM. Another shotgun blast, so close that the sound ricocheted in Sam's eardrums and made him stumble back with a grimace.

Then, suddenly, a figure was toppling out of the room just in front of Sam, sickly limbs flailing. It was a woman. Or something like a woman, a nurse in a short skirt that seemed too tight with an ample amount of visible cleavage, and…_god_.

No face. She didn't have a _face_.

For a moment Sam was frozen. As much as he was overrun with thoughts of his brother, all he could think about right then was how much the nurse creature reminded him of Jess.

It had no hair, no features, but the body, the _costume_—Sam thought 'costume' because his mind went straight to the one Jessica had been wearing the last night he ever really saw her, before Dean appeared that same night and whisked him back to a life that wouldn't let him go.

She had been dressed as a nurse, just like that, a 'sexy nurse' she had said, giving him that gorgeous sly grin as she did, and trying to persuade him to be her 'sexy doctor' and dress up too. It would be a happy memory if not for what had happened the next time he saw her…

"Dean!" Sam called again, tearing his eyes from the dead nurse and rushing around the corner into the room she had tumbled out of. He was immediately startled to find himself facing the barrel of his own gun, with _Aaron_ clumsily wielding it.

Sam's urgency was replaced with anger and accusation as he rushed ahead straight at that aimed shotgun until he had slammed Aaron back into the nearest wall.

"Start talking! Right now!" he demanded.

Aaron's eyes were wide, as terrified in this confrontation with Sam as he had probably been while being attacked by the nurse. The shotgun remained wedged between them, for the moment useless.

"I-I don't…know what you mean. It was one of those monsters!" Aaron defended.

"I'm not talking about the…" Sam trailed as he cast a quick glance behind him at the Jess-like figure on the floor in the hallway—it had to be on purpose, it had to be another damn message from the town. "I'm talking about _this_," Sam growled as he spun back to face Aaron and gripped low down the barrel of the shotgun, tearing it from the other man's hands. "I set it down on the front desk of the apartment building, we got sucked into that Otherworld, and when we got back out of it again, the gun was gone. And don't you even _think_ of trying to say you just found it and didn't happen to hear us in the room right down the hall!"

Sam knew he was probably overreacting and not exactly helping their situation here, but he was just so frustrated, and angry, and…_scared_.

And there was definitely something Aaron wasn't saying, no matter how much of a coward he pretended to be.

"I…I _did_, okay? I did hear you down the hall when I found the gun," Aaron admitted, not looking at Sam really, his eyes darting wildly, erratic, "But I just wanted to get out! I thought…with a weapon I could get out of the town, so I just ran. And then when I got to the edge of town…there was an actual _edge_, no more road, nothing. I…I didn't know what to do so I came back."

When they first met Aaron, they had told him that they didn't think there was a way out of the town, but they hadn't actually mentioned why they knew that. Apparently, Aaron had found out for himself that they were now surrounded by a bottomless drop-off on all sides.

Sam was still hesitant to trust him. "You're not being honest with us," he told Aaron plainly, "We can't help you get out of here if you don't tell us everything you know. This is not some nightmare you're going to wake up from, Aaron!"

"I know! I…know…" Aaron cringed and tried to sink away from Sam closer to the wall behind him. Then suddenly his eyes darted up and he made eye contact for the first time since Sam had slammed him back. "My sister! Did you find her? Did you see her in the apartments?"

Sam was immediately disgusted. This guy dared even ask that when he had just run for it instead of looking for his sister himself? "So far we've only found Jonah. That would have been the guy you saw _severed in half_ out there earlier."

Cowed, Aaron swallowed and looked away again.

"Forget it. We don't have time for this if you're just going to keep evading me. Thank you for actually trying to help us back there, but I still don't trust you. Just come on." Sam pulled away from Aaron finally, keeping the shotgun for himself. "We need to find the others. They have to be around here somewhere."

A scream split the quiet around them, making Sam tense and raise the shotgun in alert. He looked warily back out into the hallway where the nurse was still lying motionless.

That had been a woman's scream.

Holding Aaron behind him and motioning for the other man to be silent, Sam crept closer to the doorway. He could hear mumbled voices now, a woman and a man, somewhere out in the hall. Sam was done trusting every wayward person they discovered in this place. He readied himself to stay on the defensive and moved to ambush the newcomers first.

tbc...


	19. Part 19 Castiel

_Part 19 – Castiel_

* * *

If the general fatigue in Jimmy's body was not already enough to debilitate Castiel then a crowbar to the head had certainly not been an improvement. The piercing scream from the young woman that was now with was not helping any either.

Castiel reminded himself that he had to be patient despite his pounding head. "I am quite certain that creature is dead," he said, looking ahead down the hall where they had spotted a monster shaped like a woman, a nurse, it seemed, without a face. She had clearly been shot several times and was lying motionless on the floor.

"How can you be so damn calm?" the young woman exclaimed back—blonde, fidgety, and dressed in a style that Castiel believed Dean had once called 'punk', though it might have also been 'trashy'. "You're not exactly an imposing figure here, pal," the girl went on, "But there you go again acting like this is all some walk in the park."

In actuality, Castiel thought of their situation in no way like 'some walk in the park'. He was still very concerned about his charges, who were, as of now, still missing. Castiel hoped this dead body meant that Sam and Dean were not far.

Then, as he was guiding the girl down the hall with one hand and holding an ice pack to his head with the other that she had provided him after mistaking him for one of the creatures, Sam Winchester leapt out of the room just head of them brandishing a shotgun. It would be just Castiel's luck to get a hole blown through Jimmy's chest about now, when he was not nearly as capable of shrugging off bullets as he had been when he first met Dean.

"Cas," Sam breathed relief, lowering the gun immediately, thankfully, so that the girl did not get the chance to scream again. "Are you okay?" Sam went right on, "What happened? Is this Aaron's sister?"

Aaron, who Castiel could now see was behind Sam looking rather sheepish, shook his head at the same time the girl spoke up, "I don't know any Aaron. Single child, thank you. Name's Charlie. So you know Mr. Stuffed Shirt here?"

Castiel kept a benign expression so as not to appear bristled by that comment. He looked more rumpled than usual in just the button-down and slacks, he thought.

"Charlie? That is not a name I would have guessed for a woman," he found himself saying before really thinking about it, remembering that Charlie was usually taken from Charles and was therefore a male name. Castiel had not actually gotten to ask the girl her name before.

"It's Charlotte," she rolled her eyes, as if he had missed something obvious, "Nice to see someone with a real weapon," she sidled up to Sam, eyeing his shotgun more appreciatively than Castiel thought necessary. He himself had a knife after all, but he understood that a firearm was more practical with these creatures.

"Nice to meet you," Sam said, leaning away from Charlotte as though she made him extremely nervous for some reason, though Castiel thought it might be more that she was clearly inappropriately interested in the younger Winchester, "I'm Sam. This is Aaron. Have you seen anyone else? No Dean?" Sam looked around the girl at Castiel.

It bothered the angel that there was still no sign of their final missing companion. "I had hoped he was with you," Castiel said, lowering the icepack from his head, "We need to find him quickly. There are no doubt more creatures like this about," he gestured down at the nurse.

Sam nodded. "Once we regroup, we can take more time to sort through what we know. First we have to find Dean."

Castiel already knew the big secret. It did not tell him where to find Lilith like he had hoped, but since he knew what the people in Silent Hill all had in common he had not seen it necessary to probe Charlotte just yet. She had one thing in common with the Winchesters for certain, and more than just a slight resemblance to…

Castiel took pause for a moment. The girl looked like a young Mary Winchester, which he realized also meant that she looked a lot like Jessica Moore. Perhaps that was the real reason Sam was wary of this girl.

Heading further down the dark hallway, Sam and Castiel led the others, with Charlotte immediately beginning to chatter at Aaron the way she had with Castiel before they stumbled upon the nurse. She was not a native of Silent Hill like Aaron, though she had been to the town when she was younger, and was not entirely sure how she had ended up here.

Castiel appreciated that most of the chattering at him earlier had been concern for his well-being after Charlotte had mistakenly struck him over the head with a crow bar, but it had not helped his headache.

Noticing that Sam was eyeing the ice pack Castiel once again had pressed to his throbbing temple, he turned and looked at the taller man questioningly until Sam asked him, "So…what happened to you exactly?"

At that moment Castiel was fairly certain he was experiencing a very human sense of humility. He opened his mouth to respond but then stopped. He stood completely still, listening. He even hushed Charlotte over his shoulder.

It was Dean. Castiel could _hear Dean_. And it sounded like he was scuffling with something.

"Quickly!" he said by way of explanation, taking off ahead of the others, zeroing in on the sounds he could now clearly hear, and thankful that he was still angelic enough that he could hear Dean from so far away.

Dean was in trouble. Dean needed his help. Castiel would not let either Winchester die in this place.

Sam was hot on Castiel's heels, his long legs nearly carrying him ahead of Castiel several times until finally the angel was sure they had reached the room Dean was in. At first he could only see a lost shotgun on the floor of the room in front of them, and one of those nurse creatures pressed close to the far wall. Then Castiel saw Dean, just beyond her, _grappling_ with her as he struggled to wrestle a large knife from the nurse's hand.

"Dean!" Sam called out, already racing to Dean's aide, ready with his own shotgun, not that he could take a clear shot with Dean in the line of fire.

Castiel forgot about Charlotte and Aaron entirely as the icepack fell from his tightly clutching fingers and he pulled out his borrowed knife to aide as well. But Dean managed to overpower the nurse on his own, knocking her back and giving Sam all the room he needed to take an almost point-blank shot that blew off half of the creature's head. It crumbled to the floor at Dean's feet.

Castiel could admit that the sight nauseated him somewhat, even though he had once seen the very depths of Hell.

And yet the mere sight of _Dean_ beyond the fallen body of the monster, alive and well, how all of them were still somehow _alive_ despite having been separated, filled Castiel with such overwhelming relief. He had failed the Winchesters too much already to lose Dean in a fight that he could not even assist in.

"Hey, Sammy. Cas," Dean said with one of his alluring grins, "Gotta hand it to this place for one thing. Even without a face, at least the nurses are still hot."

tbc...

* * *

A/N: Love you guys for keeping up the comments as we continue this journey. You're the best!

Crim


	20. Part 20 Dean

_Part 20 – Dean_

* * *

Dean was not feeling nearly as nonchalant as he was pretending about what had just happened with the faceless nurse. His head had already been spinning with too many thoughts of Hell, and then, when he thought he had an outlet for feeling like a hunter again, like he could help someone, his damsel in distress turned out to be a monster after all.

Dean was lucky he had been able to fend her off as well as he had before the others found him, and he was beyond relieved to see them all.

Even the stranger.

"Who's this? Aaron's sister?" Dean pointed to the young blonde who had been added to their crew, and who, despite having shorter hair and somewhat trampy clothes, looked strikingly like Jo Harvelle.

Dean tried not to stare and looked instead to Aaron for an answer, but the man in the polo shirt was shaking his head.

"This is Charlotte," said Castiel, "Charlie," he immediately amended with a slight wrinkle to his nose as if the name displeased him, "And she is not Aaron's sister but another of the inhabitants of the town. We must work quickly to discuss what we know and how best to proceed. I believe Charlotte is the last of the others we will find. Unless, of course, Aaron's sister is actually accessible to us."

"What…what's that supposed to mean?" Aaron jumped to the defensive.

"Stay focused," Sam said sternly. He paused a moment to grip Dean's arm and squeeze in reassurance. Or maybe it was to _take_ reassurance, since Sam looked even more relieved to have found Dean than the other way around.

It was dark in the office, as it had been when Dean first went inside, but it looked like blonde chick Charlie had a flashlight, as did Aaron, since he had managed to hang onto their bag of supplies. The added light made Dean feel a marginal sense of safety, being able to see now that the office was not really all that large.

Dean hopped up onto the desk beside him, leaving the immobile body of the dead nurse where it lay. The others gathered around him, all of them, even the ones he didn't really know, looking to him as leader for some reason. Dean didn't really feel like being leader right now. Conflict of interested or some shit, wasn't it, what with some other version of Dean being one of the big bads out there.

Sam should be leading, not him.

But Dean managed a huff to catch his breath and said, "Okay, so…what do we know so far? Here is as good a place as any to take stock, right?"

"Wait, we should turn off these lights," Sam said, taking Aaron's flashlight right out of his hands and flicking it off, "I know it's a pain, but I think those things are drawn to the light."

See, Sam was the smart one. He should take charge, not Dean. Not here. Dean didn't even like the idea of being in the dark again, how pathetic was that? He was a little soothed that it looked like Sam had managed to re-bandage himself, but Cas wasn't looking too hot, and Dean definitely didn't like that they had two strangers with them now instead of one.

Charlotte didn't immediately listen to Sam about turning off her flashlight. She flicked it around the room instead. "Sure, I just love the idea of chitchatting in complete darkness with a bunch of men I don't know. Genius idea," she grumbled.

"You have nothing to fear from us," Castiel said, ever the unassuming and non-threatening male figure. Granted, the guy was an angel, so Dean didn't think that was quite the right way to put it. Was Cas even really male?

_That_ was awkward to consider, for some reason.

"Sure thing, smooth talker," Charlotte cocked an eyebrow at Castiel, "But even if that's true, I do got something to fear from those walking nightmares lumbering around, and I'd rather be able to see 'em coming. This place isn't exactly—_shit_!" Charlotte's blue eyes suddenly went wide, her arc of light having landed right on Dean and the desk.

"Dean!" Sam dove forward to grab him, but it was already too late. Impossibly strong arms had already wrapped around Dean from behind and were pulling him backwards through a broken window into an adjacent office they hadn't bothered to notice.

Panic caught in Dean's throat, but he was not about to be done in by one of these freaking faceless bastards. He could tell by the shape of the thin arms and the large scalpel in one hand that it had to another one of the nurses. Dean's shotgun was in the other room, but he was far from helpless.

Slamming his head back into the faceless bitch and hearing a grunt and wheeze as she doubled back, Dean loosened her hold enough to jab an elbow into her stomach and break free. Quickly, he whirled around and reached back for his pistol, but the nurse was faster. She twitched, her head cocking at a disgusting angle, and then she lunged, stabbing the scalpel into Dean's left shoulder.

"Dean!" it was Castiel calling now, and as Dean was struggling to still pull his gun and somehow manage to blow the nurse's face off, the angel came running into the room ahead of Sam and the others and stuck his borrowed knife into the monster's back.

They were morbidly connected for a moment, from angel to monster to Dean, all through blades.

The nurse reared around, leaving her scalpel in Dean's shoulder, but Castiel took her down to her knees with one well-aimed punch. Dean was pretty impressed with that, especially with how fatigued the guy looked, but he took that as his cue to finish the job, pulling his gun finally and putting a bullet in the nurse's head.

She toppled over, dead, and good riddance too. Dean's shoulder hurt like _Hell_.

"Dean, please sit, we must attend to your wound," Castiel immediately took Dean's hand and led him over to a table. This office was larger than the other one, and seemed to be littered with medical supplies, almost too conveniently.

Damn Silent Hill, Dean thought, constantly messing with them.

Sam came in and started rummaging for supplies to treat Dean's shoulder. Just when Dean thought at least one of them was still in tip top shape—physically anyway—he had to go and get sliced up by an evil but still disturbingly sexy nurse. Now all of them had some kind of handicap. It wasn't as if they could count on Aaron or the new girl.

At least it looked like Sam had found some bandages and a cloth he was able to wet at a sink in the corner. Castiel took the job of removing the knife from Dean's shoulder, and strained right now or not, Dean was thankful for the slightly added strength in the angel's grip, because it didn't hurt nearly as much as it might have.

Dean still grit his teeth with a grunt of, "_F-Fuck_," but he gave Cas a grateful look afterward so the angel knew that Dean appreciated what he had done.

Everyone seemed to be coming to Dean's rescue. It was really starting to get to him.

"Damn it, here I go wasting everyone's time again," Dean grumbled, not really meaning to be heard, and definitely not looking for sympathy, but there it was.

Sam came over with the cloth and bandages wearing a prominent scowl. "Making sure we're all still in good enough shape to stay alive isn't wasting time, Dean. Quit being a baby," he said, mostly to ease the tension as he tossed a half-smile at Dean.

Sam knew him too well, and had to know that Dean would not be forgetting the Pyramid Head creature and how it was connected to him any time soon. Sam was also a good enough brother most of the time that he would not bring any of that up again until they were alone.

Looking away from those damn puppy eyes and casting his gaze down at the table instead, Dean spotted a bottle marked 'health drink', whatever the hell that was supposed to mean.

"Too bad real life isn't like a video game," Dean joked, looking up at Cas and Sam, who were both close beside him now, "I could just take that there and be all better."

Aaron, who was looking especially anxious right now, walked over and picked the bottle up.

He shook it.

Empty.

"Eh. Probably would have tasted like shit anyway," Dean shrugged. And then hissed because Sam was still cleaning his wound and shrugging hurt like a sonuvabitch.

"Dean," Sam said in that reprimanding mother tone.

"Sorry. Just don't want us staying in one place too long. Can we hit two birds here and keep going over what we know? Treating me might be necessary, but coddling me isn't. We're a full crew again, so where do we stand on all this?"

Dean eyed Charlotte particularly, who was being quiet since it had been her light that brought the nurse. She had given the flashlight to Cas now who was using it to shine light on Dean's wound while Sam wrapped it up.

"I found another message in blood when I awoke," Castiel said matter-of-factly, as though finding messages in blood was a common occurrence, though for them maybe it was. "I believe I have figured out what it is that all of the people trapped here have in common."

There was a sudden clang as Aaron tripped over a metal cart in the dark, also losing his hold on the health drink that then crashed to the floor, and following with his own tumble to the ground that was about as far from graceful as a guy could get.

_Smooth_, Dean wanted to say, but before he could speak he spotted a silver necklace that had fallen from Aaron's pocket, sparkling up at him from the floor. It looked exactly like the locket that should at that moment still be with _him_.

Dean checked his jeans, despite Sam's protests at his moving.

No locket.

"Dean!" Sam called when Dean leapt from the table, snatching up the locket before Aaron could hide it again. If it hadn't been for the sparkle of silver, Dean never would have noticed the necklace in the dark.

"How did you get this?" he demanded as Aaron clumsily climbed to his feet, looking defensive and ready to bolt. "It was in my pocket, asshole, and I'm pretty sure you're not the slippery fingers type, which means you would have had to take it while I was out. Which means _you_ were awake. You better start talking right now!" Dean stepped into Aaron's personal space, even as Sam was coming up behind him to finish the bandages.

Aaron's eyes darted around at all of them, Castiel having moved in closer as well, and Charlotte having run around to stand behind them since she smartly got the point that Aaron was not a trustworthy guy. He wasn't even trying to defend himself, just staring at them all dumbly.

"Fess up!" Dean growled, thrusting out the locket, "You got something more to do with this place than you're saying, don't you? Don't you! You better come clean right—!" And then Dean saw it, as he was holding up the locket he saw that it had busted open when it fell from Aaron's pocket and the tiny pictures within were floating there in front of his face.

One of the pictures was of a young woman, dark hair, sad smile. The other was of _Aaron_. Their faces looked remarkably alike, like twins.

"This…this is your sister's locket, isn't it?" Dean said, pulling the necklace back in to keep it out of Aaron's reach, "With the inscription _'Yours Forever'_? Not exactly a sisterly message there, _Aaron_. Just what the hell is going on?"

And of course it was then that the siren once again began to howl.

tbc...

* * *

A/N: The plot thickens!

Crim


	21. Part 21 Sam

_Part 21 – Sam_

* * *

The paint was peeling from the walls already upon the first blare of the siren, like the world of Silent Hill was hungry for them, burning away to that horrific shell of itself eagerly. Sam knew things were getting worse if the town was changing again so soon. It was also all the distraction Aaron needed in order to run.

"Cas, grab him!" Dean called as Aaron sprinted for the door, but Castiel was easily pushed aside, still not quite at full strength, obviously spooked by the arrival of the Otherworld yet again, and winded from having come to Dean's aid before.

Aaron was long gone in moments and Sam knew it would be foolish to follow him.

Of course that didn't stop Dean from starting at a dead run. He might have chased Aaron right out into the black abyss if Sam hadn't grabbed a handful of Dean's T-shirt from behind and tugged him back.

"Dean, don't be stupid. We don't know what's out there. And you're not all patched up yet."

"It's good enough, Sam, let go! Aaron might be in cahoots with Lilith and going out to lead those creatures right to us!" Dean tried to pull forward as if he meant to rush on ahead anyway, but without much effort, so that Sam guessed Dean was merely expressing his need to do _something_, not that he would actually run off half-cocked.

Dean was far from an idiot or the impulsive type, despite popular opinion. Usually it was Sam making those kinds of mistakes.

"I hate when this place gets bloody," Charlie shivered in response to the change in scenery, her blonde hair making her more or less visible even in the dark and red of the Otherworld.

"Hey, Cas…you okay over there?" Dean pulled away from Sam and went over to check on the angel who definitely looked worse for the wear.

Castiel pulled himself together as best he could when he turned to face Dean, but it was obvious he was far more troubled then he had yet been, and very tired. "The message I…found. That is the key. I assumed something…terrible had become of Aaron's sister as soon as I first read it, and…I expect a similar tragedy befell Charlotte at least once."

"Huh?" the girl blinked at them obliviously.

"What do you mean?" Sam pressed. Castiel had not yet told them what the message he found had said.

The four of them gathered a little closer, keeping the flashlight Castiel had been using to help tend to Dean's shoulder muted between them. Sam also kept a sharp eye on Charlie, because their track record with others in this town had not been anywhere near good.

Looking about as anxious and concerned as he yet had in Sam's opinion, Castiel retold the message he had read when he first awoke in the hospital.

_All those who wander here lonely_

_Allowed kin to die in their stead_

_Blame will be passed on accordingly_

_And the guilty will soon meet their end_

After Castiel finished speaking, Sam was pretty sure he was going to throw up now.

It all made so much sense. Dean cheated death the first time because their dad had traded himself to demons to make sure Dean wouldn't die. Sam came back for the same reason, because Dean made a deal and went to Hell for him. They were both alive because kin—_family_—had died in their place. It made the truth of that Pyramid Head creature being some representation of Dean even worse, because it reminded Sam that he was the reason Dean went to Hell in the first place, so, really, it was his fault that creature existed, not Dean's.

"So…you guys are trying to say that everyone in this town had some loved one die for them? That's the dumbest thing I ever heard," Charlie dismissed the whole thing with a wave of her brightly polished nails, "Only child, I said, remember? And my stupid parents are living their suburban middle-class boring lives as we speak. I don't fit your profile, boys, so why am I stuck here?"

Castiel looked rather put out that Charlie was shooting down his theory, which otherwise seemed perfectly sound. "Perhaps you are…simply unaware of the sacrifice," he suggested.

"That doesn't make sense either," Dean said, "We know. Aaron knows. And Jonah sure as Hell knew what his drinking caused. Why would Charlie be the only one who doesn't?" he asked the obvious question.

No one said anything, but Sam shared a look with Dean and Castiel that clearly agreed Charlie might be lying. They would have to watch her more closely from now on.

"What does the riddle tell us for sure?" Sam said, "Maybe there's a clue in there about where Lilith and the seal are located."

"The what?"

The three of them ignored Charlie for now. They were way beyond caring if the locals actually knew what was going on. "Blame will be passed on accordingly. So…where is blame passed the most?" Sam thought aloud, "The Jailhouse? Maybe more the courthouse…"

Charlie snorted. "School," she said, totally serious, "Can't think of any place with harsher judgments than there."

Sam had an initial dislike for Charlie that was not entirely the girl's fault. After spotting his first nurse and being reminded of Jessica, the last thing Sam had wanted was to stumble upon some young blonde girl who looked just like her. But she did make a good point.

"If Lilith is using a child host again it would make a lot of sense for her to set up shop in a school."

"Yes," agreed Castiel, "And there is a lot of background with the school tied to the past incidents of Silent Hill. It would make sense the seal might be there. We need to move quickly. We cannot afford to wait for the Otherworld to pass again."

Sam could tell that Castiel seemed especially worried. The last few times they had exited the Otherworld had gotten progressively worse for them all, and it would be really bad if they got separated again.

"We better keep an eye out for more nurses and anything else," Sam said, "But we're running out of time here. We should get to the school as quickly as we can. Do you know how to get there?" he looked to Charlie.

She was doing a pretty impressive job of just going with the flow and having at least the appearance of calm. "I'm not really a local, but…I think I can get us there. Been a few years though."

"Good enough for me," said Dean, "And if anyone spots Aaron along the way…_shoot the bastard_. He's been playing us long enough. He has to have something more to do with this place."

"But the evidence says he lost someone too," Sam interjected, "We—"

"No. The evidence says that like the rest of us," Dean didn't bother excluding Charlie, "He has to be the reason a loved one died. Now maybe in our cases it wasn't something we wanted to happen, but with Aaron I'm wondering if he wasn't a little more active in the process. Gotta be something sinister to the whole thing, his sister gone, this locket saying _'Yours Forever'_." Dean shivered as he clutched the silver locket in his hand.

Sam had to agree that the whole thing was pretty damn creepy.

"Let's move," Dean said, loading up his recovered shotgun and handing his Beretta to Charlie, "You know how to use that, honey?"

The petite blonde shot Dean a look then checked the clip and flipped off the safety like a pro. "What kind of a world do you think we live in, sugar. I'm good," she said

That didn't make Sam feel anymore trustworthy of Charlie, even if she did have Jess's same blue eyes and softly curving smirk, but they really were running out of time now. They wouldn't survive much longer if they didn't find Lilith before the Otherworld cut out again.

And judging by how pale Castiel looked, and how shuddery Dean was, no doubt still shaken by Pyramid Head and thoughts of Hell, they might not last much longer _in_ the Otherworld either.

tbc...

* * *

A/N: And then there was a long hiatus. Sorry, folks, but I am soon to return with the next part. Promise.

Crim


	22. Part 22 Castiel

_Part 22 – Castiel_

* * *

They had to go back outside. They had to go out into the most unprotected part of the Otherworld where that creature that was and was not Dean Winchester could very well be waiting for them.

Even more frightening to Castiel was the prospect of what might happen when the Otherworld vanished again. He would be expelled from Silent Hill, and Jimmy, Sam, and Dean would be left to face these horrors alone.

"Should be this way," whispered Charlie as they slipped out an emergency exit of the hospital. She had Dean's Beretta and was leading them to the school where they believed Lilith and the seal might be lying in wait for them.

There was the distinct sound of flapping, of howling, and even distant shuffling, as If every creature they had so far come across might at any moment swoop in and take one of them away. Sam and Dean were ever watchful with their shotguns now that Sam had his returned from Aaron.

There was no sign of the young man who seemed to have betrayed them. Castiel was not certain how Aaron was working with the forces of Silent Hill, but he was certain Lilith had to be involved, and that it all no doubt went back to Aaron's sister.

"Why isn't anything attacking?" hissed Sam, keeping his aim higher to the sky in search of those flying creatures, while Dean watched out more carefully for attacks by land. If the burns on Sam's neck still bothered him, he gave no indication.

Dean was not fairing so well with his recently stabbed shoulder. He could not hold the shotgun up as high as normal and his aim would no doubt suffer because of it. He kept on anyway, scowling as he hissed back at Sam, "Don't jinx it, Sammy. Just count our blessings and let's get to this school ASAP."

The grey haze of the ash falling throughout the town made it impossible for Castiel to see anything more than his companions. He remained close to Dean, fearful for what might become of his charge, especially if they did not find Lilith quickly and Castiel was forced out of the town.

"Will you quit with the fatalistic puppy eyes, Cas, it's really getting on my nerves," Dean snapped back at him.

Castiel was never quite certain what Dean meant by 'puppy eyes' though it seemed to be a term more often reserved for Sam. "I apologize, Dean. I only wondered if you might prefer I take the shotgun so you do not aggravate your shoulder."

"I'm fine," was Dean's short reply, looking away from Castiel quickly.

Castiel sighed. Dean would give the same response, no doubt, if he were missing a limb.

"Almost there," Charlie called back to them.

A shadowy structure did indeed await them in the distance. They were keeping close to any buildings they passed, afraid that too much open space would invite every creature in town. Another few minutes and they would be at the school.

"Dean," Castiel stepped closer so that he could speak to Dean more privately, violating the promise he had once made to respect Dean's personal space.

"Geez, what is it?" Dean growled, "Are you _trying_ to attract attention to us?"

"I need you to understand, Dean, the truth of what might happen when we are released from the Otherworld again," Castiel said.

"Just save it til we're inside somewhere safe, Cas."

"But Dean—" Castiel broke off, clutching Dean's arm too tightly so that Dean hissed. Something was close to them. Some creature was close enough that Castiel could sense it, even with his dulled abilities.

Sam and Charlie were ahead of them by several paces since Dean had stopped when Castiel grabbed him. The first glimmer of a figure moving in between them and the others appeared like glowing embers out of the haze. As Castiel began to make out other glowing points around them he realized that he had been able to sense the creature not because it was powerful or large, but because it was one of many.

So many.

"Sam! Charlotte!" Castiel called out. Dean had seen the small points of moving light as well, and they took off running to catch up.

Sam and Charlie both turned, but they were already surrounded by small crawling creatures that looked as though they were burning. Dean took aim and fired, unable to tell and no doubt uncaring as to what exactly the creatures were. But Castiel, his humanity more visceral than ever with how connected he was to Jimmy in this place, grew nauseous the moment he saw the creatures clearly for the first time. Charlie must have seen them too, because she was screaming.

They were children. Small, crawling children, practically infants, with pleading childlike murmurs falling from their smoldering lips like they were only asking to be held.

"Holy shit. Oh..._shit_," said Dean, pausing only a moment when he recognized the form of these new creatures before he fired again, and quickly reloaded.

A line of the burning children separated them from Sam and Charlie. The creatures were leaving ashes and streaks of black along the pavement as they moved, swarming like insects to surround Sam and Charlie more closely. Sam was picking them off with his shotgun much like Dean, a sour but resolute expression on his face that Castiel knew was as much a mask as Sam or Dean could manage being forced to kill what looked like tortured human children.

Reloading after each pair of shots was taking too long, and there were only so many additional rounds stuffed into Sam and Dean's pockets. Charlie wasn't firing at all, but backing away closer to the building they had almost reached. Castiel could not quite make out her face, but it looked wide with terror, more so for these not-children than he had seen on her face before.

The only weapon Castiel had was a knife, which hardly seemed helpful when long range was always better to fend off a swarm. There was no telling how little time they might have before the Otherworld ended again and Castiel was forced out. He turned to look behind them, spotting dozens more of those small points of light all around them in the darkness. They were not killing enough to make up for the sheer mass about to descend.

"Dean, take my hand!" Castiel shouted, grabbing Dean by the wrist before Dean could reply, and disrupting Dean's last shot so that the shell pelted into the pavement.

"Cas, wha-!"

"Now!" was all Castiel said in explanation, charging forward and leaping over the line of creatures so they could at least reach Sam and Charlie. He had enough strength in him to lift Dean even only with a mere touch on his wrist.

Dean looked shaken by being somewhat flown in the guise of an inhuman leap, and turned to Castiel with wide eyes once he had snatched his hand back. "Warn me next time!" he shouted.

"But I did," said Castiel.

Dean grumbled, pumping his shotgun to fire another round at the creatures that were pulled in around them tighter than ever.

The building was close behind them now with fewer creatures blocking their path. "We must get inside," Castiel said, "We will be overrun."

Sam nodded and took off after Charlie, who was still shell-shocked as she slowly backed away, the gun she had taken from Dean and seemed more than capable of using hanging limp in her hand.

Castiel grabbed for Dean again, ignoring Dean's protests at being manhandled. It seemed so morbid when Castiel had to kick one of the burning children out of his path, but he knew better than to believe any form the creatures here took on. Everything was a manifestation to make a point, not perfectly mimicking reality. The creatures weren't really children, but meant to invoke the feelings associated with children.

The look on Charlie's face as they reached the door to the school said everything Castiel needed to know about who had been sacrificed for her sake.

They found the door open, not a main door into the school, but one into the basement leading down. Unlocked doors were rarely welcoming in Silent Hill, but at least it shut heavily and solid behind them to keep the creatures out and them safe, for however long that might last.

"Oh god, oh god, oh _fuck_," Charlie was chanting, mumbling incoherently as Sam dragged her down the stairs through the darkness. There was a red haze in the walls bright enough to see by, but still dark and menacing.

Sam was being perhaps a little rough with the girl, but Castiel could tell that she would not have been capable of movement without him.

She wrenched her arm from him finally only to fall willingly to the floor, pushing herself up against a wall where she let Dean's gun fall from her hand and wrapped her arms around her knees. "Oh god...Oh god, I'm so sorry. I'm so _sorry_..."

Castiel released Dean's wrist again, reaching up to squeeze Dean's good shoulder before he moved to Charlie.

"Please, you have to stay quiet," Sam was saying, knelt down in front of her, "We're safe for now, but we don't know what's down here. It's all right. It was just more creatures. It's okay."

"It is not," Castiel said simply. He reached them, crouching like Sam. The younger Winchester's face was worn but sympathetic. Castiel had always admired that quality most about the brothers-their unyielding empathy for others. "You have all been very brave in the face of other creatures, but when faced with the ones built for _you_...it is very different. Isn't it?" he looked to Charlie.

Charlie turned her head away, hiding behind her knees, still chanting beneath her breath.

"I would not presume to judge you, but I do believe I understand now," Castiel said to her, "No siblings. Not your parents. What else is left then...but the loss of a child."

A sob rose from Charlie's knees in response but she did not look up.

"A child unborn, perhaps?"

"Unborn? You mean, she...?" Dean's voice came from just above Castiel but fell to a whisper.

"Oh," said Sam, as if the realization tasted bitter on his tongue.

"You...you don't know," said Charlie, her voice muffled as she stayed curled in a tight ball, "I didn't want to do it. They said...they said it could kill me. Not that it would. That it _could_. I could have tried. I could have tried to have my baby, I should have tried no matter the risk, but I...I didn't. I was scared, and I...I...I just couldn't go home after that," she sobbed.

The girl's tough demeanor made much more sense to Castiel as a shield rather than the truth, and he wondered if when she was home she had been Charlotte more often than Charlie.

"I hate this place..." she said.

"No argument here," said Dean, "But we have to keep moving. You're not getting any judgment out of us. Don't let this place get to you. It's trying to break you down so that when death comes you let it take you. I saw it happen already to a man who had bad things happen to him, but who wasn't a bad person. This isn't justice happening to us here, honey, it's just cruel."

"Come on, it's going to be okay," said Sam, taking Charlie's arm, but she resisted.

"Just leave me here..." she said, lifting her eyes to reveal streaks of black from her makeup.

Then, suddenly, she was screaming again.

Castiel whirled around, jumping back to his feet beside Dean. The basement was large and winding between bits of machinery. From a standing position Castiel could only see a bright glow at first, but then a _body_ crawled into view. It wasn't another child, but the figure of a burnt woman scrambling along the ground still on fire and lighting up everything she touched.

Like the two women who had once burst into flames above Sam's bed.

tbc...

A/N: So...yeah. Over a year later. For those who did not hear, what happened was I lost all my notes for the fic in a computer crash and with it my will to write this. But I went back and revamped the chapters some time ago, and knew I had to return finally with how many reviews kept begging me too. Next update won't be nearly so long as I have the whole rest of this planned out again. 25 total parts with 5 endings to choose from, much like the games. Sorry again for the insane hiatus.

Thanks for those who stuck with this, and please review!


	23. Part 23 Dean

_Part 23 - Dean_

* * *

Dean had always had an advantage over Sam. He hadn't seen their mother die with his own eyes. Sam had been a baby then, but it had still happened above his bed. And later, when it had been Jessica above Sam, he had been more than old enough to feel the sting that would linger from her loss.

So it was only natural that Dean gave the burning female-like creature crawling toward them along the school basement floor no more than a passing glance before all of his attention focused on his brother.

And the sheer horror on Sam's face.

"Don't forget what we were just telling Charlie, Sammy," Dean said, grabbing some of the last shells from his jean pocket and quickly reloading.

His arms were covered in ash, just like Sam, and Charlie, and Castiel's usually white shirt. His shoulder ached, not really properly tending to, since what he needed was to rest and let the knife wound heal.

Sam's neck that was bandaged still looked red and angry where the gauze wasn't quite covering anything. Charlie was a mess on the floor, screaming but not moving. The only constant, seemingly steady thing was Cas.

Thankfully, Sam didn't disappoint, reloading as Dean had and swallowing down the tears and anger over what this place was making him see. His eyes were red and swimming when he looked to Dean and nodded to show that, yes, he could go on because Dean needed him to, even if it hurt. And for that Dean knew that even if that terrible parody of him with the pyramid-shaped helmet appeared before them again, he wouldn't give up either.

Sam and Dean both fired, one shot each aimed perfectly at the burning creature's head. Its movement was slow, like it could only pull itself forward by its arms, not its legs, but it was only a few yards from them and the shots to its head did not still its progression forward.

"What the hell?" Dean cursed, "Headshots worked for everything else."

"Maybe it's the fire," said Sam, "Maybe we have to put it out."

"With _what_?"

"It doesn't matter. We must move further away from the door or the creature will have us cornered," said Castiel, taking hold of Dean's wrist as he had several times in the last few minutes.

Dean was too stunned to really resist. He wasn't used to the angel touching him, especially so frequently. Castiel had always had trouble understanding personal space as far as proximity, but he had never been so hands-on.

The continued acts of physicality worried Dean, because it said something about how perilous their situation really was if Castiel saw the need to physically move him out of harm's way again and again.

The angel tugged at Sam too, urged Charlie to move quickly, all the while dragging Dean behind him like a child around the creature's apparent path to where they had been.

Dean didn't pull his arm away when they came to a stop but stared at Castiel, seeing something in the too bright blue eyes that had nothing to do with being steady or constant. It was resignation. And not true surrender either, but some sense of having no control with no choice but to give in to that.

"Cas...?"

"Sam, hurry! Charlotte, you must move!" Castiel called after the others, seemingly not hearing Dean, "We must escape this creature before the fire spreads!"

It was already spreading, flames licking the concrete floor and machinery as if all of it had been covered in gasoline. Everything the creature touched lit up with more flames that spread out around her.

Sam moved quickly to join Dean and Castiel, but stopped to turn back and reach a hand out to Charlie. "Come on! It's slow enough, we can get away!" he called.

Charlie shook her head, her screams having died off, and all of her attention focused on the fire, making her blue eyes look strangely orange in the darkness.

"Charlie!" Sam tried again. He started toward her as if to grab her by force, but the creature was getting closer, the flames thicker and spreading out wider around her so that Sam's path was suddenly blocked. "Charlie, hurry! You can still make it!"

Dean shook his head. He had seen the same look on Jonah's face. He knew Charlie wasn't going anywhere. The feeling of Castiel's hand on his wrist squeezing tightly made Dean look over. The resignation Dean had seen was accompanied by a deep sorrow.

Like guilt.

"Cas?"

"We don't have time," Castiel said.

Somehow, Dean didn't think that Castiel only meant they didn't have time to save Charlie.

"Dean, we have to do something!" Sam shouted as he ran to them, looking back frantically at the burning creature lumbering slowly toward Charlie. The fire had started to surround her.

Dean stared at Castiel. "We can't save her, Sammy," he said.

"But we have to! We have to do something! She looks just...like..."

_Mom_, Dean thought, finally turning to look at Sam, but as soon as his eyes met his brother's he knew Sam wasn't thinking about their mother. Charlie looked like Jess, because Jess had looked like Mom.

And now Charlie was burning too.

Her screams were renewed, loud and terrible over the roar of the fire that seemed spurned on now that it had touched flesh, the creature moving faster, glowing brighter, so that Dean couldn't see Charlie at all anymore. He had to pull away from Castiel when he saw Sam move to run forward, latching onto his brother's arm to stop him from dashing into the fire like some doomed hero.

Dean shook his head again. They couldn't save everyone. They couldn't save _anyone_ here, it seemed.

"We must go," said Castiel, "Before it comes for us too. Before..." he trailed, leaving some other words of warning to fall away.

Dean was coughing from the smoke and out of breath because of it when they finally made it across the basement and found a door leading up to the main areas of the school. Sam's face was pale and haunted, Charlie's screams still echoing around the room when they climbed the stairs to freedom.

Another unlocked door with little relief to accompany it gave them entry. They were still in the Otherworld, leaving the school looking plastered with decay that might have been children, all red and suffocating like Hell. Because it _was_ Hell, some terrible suburb.

"Hurry!" said Castiel, already moving, not bothering to give Dean a chance to catch his breath, or Sam the chance to mourn what he had seen, what they had lost and hadn't been able to save.

Dean moved on autopilot anyway, gun raised and ready, and Sam did the same. There were too many times in the past when they had had to go, to leave someone behind. Like the night Dean had pulled Sam from his and Jessica's bedroom, even though Sam would have ran right back into that burning house if he had had the chance.

"Cas, wait," Dean called after the angel, "Give us a minute."

"No time," said Castiel, moving swiftly, and checking classroom doors along the way that all seemed to be locked, "Lilith is nearby. I can sense her. There isn't any time."

"_Cas_," Dean said more firmly, dashing ahead and grabbing Castiel's arm roughly to halt him, "We'll get her, okay? We just need one-"

"No, Dean, you don't understand!" Castiel nearly shouted. What had been resignation, and then sorrow, was moving headlong into panic.

"What is it, Cas? What's going on?"

An echoing bang sounded down the hallway as the furthest doors opened, the kind of double doors that usually led into a gym or auditorium. Dean's first thought was that it would be the Pyramid Head creature, but the figure he saw silhouetted in the doorway was a normal sized man.

_Aaron_.

"You son of a-"

"Oh, goodie. We were beginning to think you weren't coming to the party."

Dean's veins filled with ice at the sound of that voice. _Lilith's_ childlike voice.

"No..._Dean_." Castiel turned to him with the most stricken look of grief, blocking the path to Aaron and Lilith and clutching at Dean's arms. Dean saw Castiel glance with equal anguish at Sam behind them, and then his blue eyes were steady, unwavering as they looked at Dean and said, "You will be all alone."

The siren had stopped. The darker grey world of the normal Silent Hill was returning around them, making Dean feel nauseous and ready to faint already, wholly at the mercy of whatever Lilith was planning.

But worse than that, worse than hearing Sam call for him and crumble behind him, was seeing the brief blinding glow of white light from Castiel's eyes and mouth as the angel was driven from the town completely.

tbc...

A/N: Well, that one pretty much wrote itself. :-) Two parts left before the multiple endings!

~Crim


	24. Part 24 Sam

_Part 24 – Sam_

* * *

Sam's neck was stinging in pain again, aggravated from running, and fighting, and falling to the ground in a heap of dead weight after the Otherworld kicked them out for what seemed like the dozenth time. He came to slower, sluggish after what had happened to Charlie. He hadn't even liked her initially, put off by her attitude, her obvious flirting, and her striking resemblance to Jess, especially when those damn nurses had reminded him of Jessica too.

Buy Charlie…she had died because of him. They had been right there, Sam had been right there, but he hadn't been able to pull her away in time, haunted instead by screams when the burning creature that, again, was Jess, so purely _Jess_, descended and burned Charlie to nothing.

Sam hadn't thought about Jess in so long, but in Silent Hill, suddenly, it was if she had burned above him only yesterday.

"Join the party any time now, Sammy. Wake up!" came Dean's voice, close beside him, real and heavy just like Sam felt. Dean sounded urgent and borderline afraid though, which was an emotion that almost never seeped audibly into Dean's speech if he could help it.

Dean was scared. Scared because…because…

Because the last thing they had seen was _Lilith_.

Sam jolted fully awake, gritting his teeth at his acid-burned neck and trying to ignore the renewed pain. There was pain in his shoulders, too, from falling, and because his arms were wrenched behind his back by some super-powered goon. A _demon_. A run-of-the-mill demon possessing some poor bastard, acting as lackey for Lilith even in Silent Hill. Dean was being held in similar fashion, and next to him was a third demon holding Castiel, all of them pushed down on their knees, prone and weaponless.

No, not Castiel, Sam thought, remembering the angel's bright expulsion. The blue eyes were too dull, too human and wide, and he was actually shaking. It was _Jimmy_.

"Such a sleepy-head," said Lilith's little girl voice, a dark-haired girl this time, no more than six or seven years old, wearing a pale pink dress. She was standing a few yards from them in the middle of what Sam realized was a dingy gymnasium with half the bleacher benches missing. Some intricate spell had been drawn around her on the floor in what looked like blood.

Aaron was standing beside her.

"I wouldn't want anyone to miss out," said Lilith, "Too bad for Jonah and Charlie, hmm? But everyone invited needs to bleed a little or the spell won't work. Isn't Silent Hill fun?" She giggled, tilting her head and shrugging her shoulders like she had told some innocent little joke.

"This really the kind of thing you want to get yourself involved with?" Dean said to Aaron, doing a better job of ignoring Lilith than Sam would have expected.

Aaron shifted uncomfortably, his eyes darting to look at Lilith in unrestrained fear, and yet he did not move away from her. "I had to," he said, "For my sister."

"Your _dead_ sister, you mean?" Dean said harshly.

"Yes," Aaron said in a small, barely there voice, his fists clenching more to ground him, it seemed, than show any real anger at Dean, "Lilith said…she said she would bring her back…if I just made sure everyone got hurt and found their way here. You don't understand. I have to get her back. She shouldn't have died. She shouldn't have…let things turn out the way they did."

"Let you _kill her_, you mean?" Sam said, calculating and careful.

Aaron's instant jerk in reaction had Sam certain his hunch was right.

"You loved her," Sam went on, "More than you should have, I'm guessing. Maybe she loved you that way too, but even if you didn't feel guilty about the relationship, she did. Didn't she? She wanted to stop, but you couldn't let that happen."

"Dude," Dean grimaced, playing right along once he realized what Sam was trying to do, "I knew that locket was creepy, and _fucking_ your sister is pretty sick, but killing her 'cause she wants to call it quits is about as low as it gets."

Aaron rushed forward, fire in his eyes that somehow managed to beat out all of his anxiety and fear, and any remaining guilt. Sam had the sick feeling that the expression on Aaron's face was the exact same look his sister had seen—_Sammy_, Sam remembered with an even deeper pit in his stomach—right before the bastard killed her.

Aaron had barely made it halfway to Dean before he jerked to a stop like he had hit some invisible wall and crumbled to his knees. Lilith laughed from behind him.

"No, no, silly, that's just what those naughty Winchesters want you to do," she said, "So you make my good soldiers lose their focus and let the boys go. Then they'd try and make all sorts of trouble. We don't want them going free, do we? Not yet."

Aaron struggled to his feet, the fire in his eyes gone, his face a sickly green like he might throw up as he slunk back to rejoin Lilith in her circle of symbols.

At least Sam knew Aaron was as easy a target as he had always suspected, but that wouldn't help them if they couldn't get out of the hold of these lesser demons.

"It's time now, isn't that exciting?" Lilith went on, grinning jovially, "All of you have bled in Silent Hill. So…" she frowned, trailing as her eyes moved to Jimmy. "Hmm, but you haven't bled for me, have you? That mean angel was so hard to read. Too bad he can't help you now. Best to make sure you offer a sacrifice for the ritual too." She nodded to the demon holding Jimmy down.

Dean shifted beside Sam, eyes filled with fear again as he looked to Jimmy. "Hey, wait-"

Jimmy's expression was utterly panicked, helpless as he returned Dean's look with one of pleading that the elder Winchester could do nothing about.

"Cas!" Dean called as the demon slammed Jimmy's head down into the gymnasium floor with a loud crack, leaving the man's face smeared with blood over a bent and broken nose, moaning and disoriented from the trauma.

Sam knew he didn't need to correct Dean that Jimmy was the one who had just been rammed into the floor, not Castiel, but the slip seemed to be enough to please Lilith.

"So concerned for your angel. How sweet," she said, "I'll be sure and invite him to the next party, don't you worry, Dean, and pluck off every one of those awful feathers." She wrinkled her nose, like she was speaking of something truly disgusting.

Sam felt pity for Jimmy, but they didn't have time to worry about small injuries, however painful, when Lilith was about to break a seal.

"You have what you need. It's enough. I've done enough," said Aaron, turning to Lilith with shaking, clenched fists. "Now…bring back my sister. You have to bring her back. You promised."

Lilith's eyes drooped, not yet displayed as black, but still the little girl's bright blue, her expression softening as if she felt some real sympathy for Aaron. She gestured Aaron to kneel in front of her then, turning toward him and revealing her profile.

Sam's eyes widened, looking to Dean, only Dean was still staring at Jimmy. Turning back to Lilith, Sam was certain of what he could see glinting behind her back, tucked into the ribbon around her dress. She had a knife. And Aaron was inches away from her.

"Oh, silly boy. I'm a demon," said Lilith, "I _lied_."

"What…?" said Aaron, too slowly, not letting the truth sink in fast enough to move him out of the way.

"I'm not bringing your sister back. But I do need something from you. Something everyone else has shed already. The last sacrifice, you see, has to really _mean something_."

"Aaron!"

Lilith's small hands were already reaching behind her back for the knife. She smiled sickly sweet at Aaron as she brought the blade in front of her, allowing him only one brief moment of realization, of _hesitation_ that still wasn't enough to save him, and then she slashed, cleanly slicing his throat and spraying blood onto her pretty pale dress.

Jimmy moaned, louder this time at seeing Aaron bleeding out onto the floor, though his voice sounded muffled by his broken nose and all the blood.

"Poor thing didn't really _mean_ to kill his sister," said Lilith, proudly holding up the bloody knife, "But then how many times have I heard that one before."

Sam tried to keep his attention focused on Lilith, and how as Aaron's blood spilled out onto the symbols around her, she was starting to glow. But Jimmy was still moaning, mumbling and ranting about something Sam couldn't quite understand, and he couldn't help turning to look at their…friend.

"It's okay," Dean was saying, closer to Jimmy and speaking soothingly, "We're not beat yet."

The demons holding them laughed.

"Calm down, man, it'll be okay," Dean tried again.

"No…" said Jimmy, hoarse and still muffled, "…you don't…understand. She is summoning the god of this town, _merging_ with it. It's starting…"

He looked up and Sam's attention was drawn as well to Lilith, glowing brighter now, _growing_.

"…and when it kills us," Jimmy sobbed, spitting out blood onto the floor, "We'll become like all the other monsters in this place."

Sam didn't have time to take in Lilith's full transformation before he heard her laughing as she called out to the other demons, "Let them go. There is no escape for them now."

tbc...

A/N: One more chapter and then the multiple endings!


	25. Part 25 Jimmy

_Part 25 – Jimmy_

* * *

Jimmy wasn't always awake while Castiel was controlling his body. Considering Castiel didn't sleep or eat or take even a moment's rest, Jimmy had always thought of that as a blessing. He would have gone mad otherwise.

He wished madness was the explanation for what he was seeing now.

There was something inherently dark and terrifying about Lilith in the body of a little girl. The contrast. The sheer vulgarity of an innocent child, like Jimmy's own _daughter_, being forced to do terrible things, covered in blood. But the creature—or…_god_—that Lilith was becoming, was so much worse. Large and grotesque, but still tailored to the survivors, to the _Winchesters_, the creature bore resemblance to all of the other personal monsters Silent Hill had made for them.

It was wrapped in skin, faceless, not quite male or female, but still muscled and menacing. It didn't walk, it lumbered, and where it moved the Otherworld spread out like a disease. The floor gave way to metal and blood, bursting open with offered blades—for Dean's benefit, Jimmy imagined—and as the creature took up its weapons, oil dripped from its skin like blood, threatening to erupt in flames.

Even the demons holding Jimmy and the others captive gasped at the change, shifting uncomfortably, and their foolish distraction was all it took for Dean and Sam to act.

Jimmy felt paralyzed and useless, in awe of them as the brothers broke free and fought, regardless of the approaching creature Lilith had become. The weapons that had been taken from them weren't far, but knives and guns would do little good against demons.

Jimmy watched as Dean did the one thing that made any sense—he grabbed the demon grappling with him by the shoulders and threw him in Lilith's path.

The gruesome outcome of her transformed, larger feet crushing the demon like a bug was not quite as horrible as how quickly the encroaching Otherworld claimed what remained of him like a hungry animal, and he was soon _part_ of the floor.

The demon fighting Sam broke away, backing up toward the gymnasium doors with a surprising amount of fear projecting out of his black eyes. Then the demon holding Jimmy, the last of them, finally let go, scrambling away to catch up to his companion. They might have made it to the doors too if the Otherworld hadn't gotten there first.

It seemed Silent Hill didn't care too much for playing favorites now that its god was free. The doors leading out of the gymnasium melted away to reveal mesh metal, rusted, that looked out into the hallway beyond…where the Pyramid Head creature was slowly approaching with his over-sized knife.

Jimmy felt Sam and Dean before he really saw them, grabbing his arms and pulling to get him to his feet. Lilith was almost upon them. Pyramid Head was breaking down the doors. The demons were shaking in fear for their _lives_.

Being immobile was hardly Jimmy's biggest problem, but he was thankful for Sam and Dean's rescue. Another moment more kneeling there in place and he might have been beheaded.

"Wh-what do we do?" Jimmy stuttered as they backed up rapid-fire fast to the other end of the gym. His vision wasn't entirely clear, still somewhat dazed from when that demon had smashed his face into the floor.

"She's slow, we can use that," said Sam, eyeing the creature gaugingly, with only a brief glance at Pyramid Head peeling back the metal mesh of the doors and grabbing one of the demons like a doll.

Jimmy looked to Dean, knowing the haunted look on the man's face well. He had been all too aware during their time in Silent Hill, more than likely because Castiel's hold had been so loose, so nearly human. Their connection had been strong enough for Jimmy to catch glimpses from Castiel's thoughts. Glimpses of what plagued Dean when he looked at that Pyramid Head creature. Glimpses of Dean when Castiel had wrenched him out of Hell, something even Dean didn't remember.

Jimmy shuddered.

"Dean!" called Sam, panicked when Dean offered no words of his own.

"Yeah…" Dean managed, shaking his head, "She's slow. And he's…busy. But the weapons…" Dean cringed looking at the spot where they had _not_ retrieved their weapons, a small pile that Lilith had descended upon and crushed when she lunged for them. Not that any conventional weapon would necessarily work, or do anything to harm her.

"We can't just keep moving out of the way and hope for the best," said Sam, "There aren't any other exits. We won't be able to do anything against both of them once he's…done." Sam's lips twitched as he said that, and he turned away from the scene at the doors.

Sam and Dean both had to turn away.

Jimmy was glad he was looking at the Winchesters, and decided that if they couldn't stomach what they were seeing, he didn't want to look either.

As they stood there at a loss for how to defend themselves, Lilith was picking up speed, blades ready, monstrous form still leaking oil that seemed to cry out for a spark. If a fire started, they would burn faster than they could be crushed or sliced apart.

"Hey," said Dean, nudging both Sam and Jimmy to look at the line of bleachers along the wall behind them.

The bleachers were becoming metal too, with liberal smears of blood and sharp edges despite several missing benches. There was a panel on the other side of the room that looked like it controlled them, automating whether they were folded out or pressed against the wall.

Dean was grinning when he looked to them again. "Either of you ever see 'The Faculty'?" he said.

Jimmy wasn't even sure what Dean was referring to, but Sam looked somewhere between wary and strangely impressed.

"Good a plan as any," Dean shrugged.

"We better watch ourselves climbing through that thing," said Sam.

"Climbing…_through_…?" Jimmy gaped.

The brothers still had a hold of Jimmy's arms and started pulling him along behind them _toward_ the rusty, sharp looking bleachers.

"Run…hide…you've already lost so much more than you know," came a voice that was and was not the little girl Lilith had been possessing. It echoed with something deeper, something older and not used to speaking. It made Jimmy shudder again, and he didn't want to look back and see how close she was. He didn't want to look ahead at where he was being dragged either, but somewhere in the back of his mind he was starting to understand what Dean intended to do.

Climbing through the metal bars was tedious. Falling amidst the mass of metal would slice them up as cleanly as Lilith or Pyramid Head's blades. Too firm a grip sliced Jimmy's hand clean open, but he was mildly comforted to be in the middle as they moved beneath the bleachers, somewhat shielded with Dean leading and Sam behind them.

Jimmy found himself crouching and crawling more than climbing, trying to avoid further cuts. He could hear Lilith following after them, hear the creak and crash of metal as she forced her way beneath the bleachers without a care to simple cuts. Their trek seemed endless, a labyrinth, and Lilith was gaining-somehow gaining despite being so large.

Jimmy saw when Dean finally reached the end, turning back and holding out a hand to help Jimmy free as well. The other side of the bleachers was a tight corner of the room, but from there they could reach the controls. Jimmy looked back through the bleachers to see that Sam was a ways behind them yet, having more trouble due to his extra inches in height.

Lilith was dangerously close behind him, her knives lifting above Sam's head and trying unsuccessfully to swipe downwards.

"Dean!" Sam called without looking back, "Do it!"

"But Sammy!"

"We don't know if it's even going to work! Just do it!"

Dean hesitated a moment more before lunging for the controls. There were two large black switches. Hands uncharacteristically trembling, Dean flipped one closed.

Nothing.

"Shit!"

Dean flipped both switches the other direction.

Nothing.

Dean flipped the switches back the other way and slammed his fist against the panel.

The shriek of metal was terrible.

Jimmy went nauseous at the thought of Sam getting caught, crushed by the bleachers like so much loose flesh, but when he turned back the taller Winchester was darting out of the bleachers and falling relieved against the wall.

Lilith and her overly large form was still crawling through the sharp beams of metal, the noise only growing more terrible as the bleachers began to fold up so quickly that it made Jimmy flinch and shuffle back until he ran into Dean by the controls. He exhaled when he felt Dean grab his arm. Lilith was too large to escape before she would be crushed.

"Come on!" Dean hissed, pulling Jimmy along-yet again-to get out from the corner of the bleachers. When they darted free, running until they were halfway to the other side of the gym, Dean stopped and Jimmy plowed into him, followed moments later by Sam crashing into them both. They steadied and Dean turned back to look, grimacing with such a potent expression, Jimmy wasn't really sure why he turned to look too.

With a final screech of metal, the bleachers were closed, as flat as they could be against the wall, and what remained of the god was so much more loose flesh than Jimmy had briefly imagined of a crushed Sam. There was blood and gore between every crack, pooling out onto the floor and mixing with the oil that had been seeping from the creature's skin.

And then, crawling out from amidst it all at the very end of the bleachers where Jimmy and the Winchesters had made their escape, was Lilith, the little girl, drenched in red but somehow uninjured.

Dean was still holding onto Jimmy, but made no move to pull him away this time. Lilith looked exhausted, like a human just recently vacated by a demon. Or an angel. Or any other invading thing. Jimmy couldn't help a small surge of validation in that—a demon finally feeling what it meant to be violated by something too powerful for them to comfortably contain.

Of course, Jimmy felt guilty the moment he thought of it like that, because he knew Castiel too intimately to blame the angel for needing him. He knew it wasn't the same. It was just incredibly satisfying to see Lilith looking so tired and beaten.

She couldn't move her body much further than pulling it free of the bleachers, collapsing right where she was and looking over at them with one moment of pure fury...before she grinned. _Grinned_, and it made Jimmy shudder deeply again. The metal had stopped shrieking, but a new sound overtook it as the little girl's voice rose in a scream and black smoke shot out of her mouth like a whirlwind.

"She's gonna be pissed," said Dean with something of a hoarse chuckle.

"Wait. Does that mean we won, or is the seal still broken?" asked Sam.

Jimmy sighed, knowing some remnants of what Castiel had learned about the seal before they entered the town. "It's safe," Jimmy said, "The seal only breaks fully if the god destroys the last of the people summoned here and moves beyond the limits of Silent Hill. Killing it should reset everything."

"Good."

After a moment, the black smoke was gone, _Lilith_ was gone, leaving a limp body that Dean and Sam both flinched toward as if to save even though it was obvious the little girl could not still be alive.

"Dean," said Jimmy, tugging his arm that Dean was gripping so hard now it almost hurt.

"Sorry," said Dean, releasing him and grinning a little crookedly, "Guess I was returning the favor for how much you were dragging me around before. Well...not _you_..." he corrected himself, smile slipping and words fumbling for an apology, "I know you're not...the same, you're, you know, _you_, not Cas, I just..."

"Dean, it's okay, I-" And then Jimmy's eyes caught a glint of light, and he heard a renewed screech of metal. His gaze darted across the gym near the doors...where Pyramid Head was dragging his blade their direction.

"Oh fuck, I forgot about him..." gasped Dean, backing up on instinct, though the monster was a safe distance from them for now.

"Maybe we can get around him," suggested Sam, "He isn't much faster than Lilith."

"That blade has a pretty wide arch," Dean said stonily.

"That doesn't mean we shouldn't-"

"The...the sparks!" Jimmy shouted, but it was already too late by the time the words got out.

The sparks from Pyramid Head's blade being dragged along the floor ignited the oil still seeping from the beaten god. Even though most of what surrounded them was metal, still being in the Otherworld, everything the god had touched erupted in instantaneous flames.

"We have to go!" shouted Sam, "We can get around him!"

Jimmy was paralyzed again, and Dean was no better, staring wide-eyed at the creature that was and was not him. The supernaturally growing flames gleamed in his green eyes, making them look almost possessed with the bright orange tinge.

"Dean! We'll be trapped! We can run!"

The screech of Pyramid Head's blade was terribly loud, louder than the roar of sudden flames.

"Dean, please!"

Jimmy whirled on Dean, calling just as loudly, "Dean!"

Dean's enflamed eyes cleared and he blinked away the orange, looking back at Sam, and then turning to acknowledge Jimmy with eyes that were purely green. "He'd have to be light years faster to catch me," Dean said. He yanked Sam forward, pushing both Sam and Jimmy closer to the far wall and urging them to run.

They hugged the wall as they went, Jimmy trying his hardest to stay focused on Sam's back and the sound of Dean's feet behind him rather than look and see that Pyramid Head had noticed them and was lifting his blade.

"Just keep moving and when I tell you to duck, _duck_!" Dean shouted.

There was comfort in that too, in not having to make the decision, to think of anything other than running straight ahead and listening for Dean's voice. Jimmy didn't look at anything other than Sam's moving shoulders as they ran, he didn't think, he barely breathed-

"Duck!"

-and when Pyramid Head swung, the metal crashed against the wall just as Jimmy dove to his hands and knees as flat as he could get to the ground. He could feel Dean sprawled over his ankles, was toppled over Sam's legs himself.

"Move!" Dean's voice came again, and somehow Jimmy was able to listen, scrambling back to his feet as swiftly as Sam and Dean and continuing to run.

What remained of the other demons was a slippery mess of carnage in front of the busted open metal doors. Jimmy barely even paused. He leapt over the gore, following Sam through the doors and onward. There was only the sound of their feet, the sound of their breathing. The fire and Pyramid Head's dragging blade was growing fainter.

Then they were bursting out into the bright haze of ash before Jimmy had even realized that as the fire spread, so too was the normal world, spreading out and overtaking the Otherworld like some delayed reaction to Lilith's demise.

Jimmy didn't want to pass out. He didn't want to end up on the concrete only to wake and find that Pyramid Head or some other creature had a hold of them, or had cleaved him in two while he was sleeping.

He thought it must be adrenaline giving him just a small reprieve, and any moment he would fall, all of them would fall and be out, but the nausea and blackening of vision never came. The Otherworld was fading, parting like a curtain in front of them as they ran into the ash, just running and running down the street in the direction Jimmy knew the Impala was parked.

There had to be a way out now. They had to be able to leave. But Jimmy knew, knew from what he had learned from Castiel, how much higher the stakes really were. Maybe all they would find when they reached the car was that same drop-off cliff to nothing.

"Come on, buddy, keep up!" Dean called back, having surpassed Jimmy long ago and looking more relieved and carefree as he ran than Jimmy had seen in a long time, even running for their lives. It was as if being that close to the creature that was supposed to be him and not being overtaken had been all Dean needed to feel like he had won.

The ash was brighter when they passed the last building out of town, blinding by the time they could see the Impala forming out of the haze. It was so bright, Jimmy couldn't see.

He couldn't see anything.

And then he heard a familiar voice.

"Do you accept me back, James Novak?"

Jimmy was instantly filled with both a feeling of overwhelming relief and a small bit of disappointment. He had almost been looking forward to riding in the Impala, something simple and human. But he knew that what was needed of him was more important than his own desires.

"Yes, Castiel," he said, and as the angel took him, he thought he saw a flash of Sam and Dean's faces looking back at him curiously before his thoughts faded into dreams.

tbc...

With the multiple endings! Sorry this is going slower than I first planned, but at least it's getting done right? :-)

~Crimson


	26. GOOD ENDING: Dean

GOOD ENDING – Dean

* * *

They had reached the impala, perfect and beautiful just as they had left her. As Dean went for the door he heard Jimmy's voice behind him.

"Yes, Castiel."

Dean whipped back around. Sam was there with him at the passenger door, but Jimmy was a few feet behind them in the ash.

_Glowing_.

"Cas!"

Castiel had been banished from Silent Hill, leaving Jimmy behind to get a broken nose for his troubles and something near a heart attack, no doubt, from their encounter with Lilith the _god_ and escaping Pyramid Head. They had to be safe now if the angel was able to be with them again.

Dean looked on in awe as Castiel walked toward them out of the ash, so obviously _Castiel_ and not Jimmy for how his eyes almost glowed. The blood was gone from his face, his nose healed, and he was once again wearing his suit and trench coat and a loose tie.

"That was a very foolish…and ingenious plan, Dean," Castiel said, smiling. "I hate to have to admit to you that Lilith will no doubt be more powerful than ever once she recovers, even if the god's power was only with her for a short time, but she can do very little if the seals remain protected. Thank you."

The last bit of relief Dean needed to know for certain they would be okay filled him in a rush and he couldn't help but laugh, he had to laugh, he couldn't believe that in the end it had been so easy. Well, not _easy_, if avoiding being slashed by giant blades and running beneath a deathtrap of a set of bleachers to catch an evil _god_ was supposed to be easy. Some good people had been lost, but they had won and lived to tell the tale. The worst they had come out of it all with was Sam's burns and the knife wound in Dean's shoulder.

Which seemed to ache with newfound resilience now that his adrenaline had started to fade. Years of having to fight while injured had almost made Dean forget the injury. It was always a shame when that didn't last.

"Shit," he cursed, though he was still laughing, "On second thought, Sammy, I think you better drive. Your neck okay?"

Sam was smiling like he was as deliriously relieved as Dean. He touched his neck as if he had also forgotten being wounded, but didn't flinch. "Good enough," he shrugged.

"The way back is clear, right, Cas?" Dean turned to the angel, who had reached them fully now and was standing before Dean.

"The town has released you," said Castiel, "But it would be in your best interest to be swift…and never return to this town again."

"I don't need to hear that twice," said Sam. He was already moving around the impala to take the keys.

Dean handed them over only somewhat reluctantly, and stopped in front of Castiel before moving to the passenger door. The angel was still smiling, which was rare since he usually looked impassive and serious if anything.

"You okay?" Dean said with another chuckle. "This isn't so different from every other day in our lives, you know? Though I feel like I might sleep for a week."

Castiel nodded vaguely, but didn't move or say anything.

"Uhh…you planning to hitch a ride then or just going to stand there staring at me creepily for the next – "

Dean actually flinched when Castiel dove forward to embrace him. He was only a touchy feely guy when it came to chicks. He was not generally physical with friends or family. He could probably count the number of times he had hugged his brother on one hand. At least from the point Sam turned thirteen and decided he was an adult. The early years were a little different.

But considering they had just survived a new level of Hell – literally – Dean decided it would probably be in bad taste to push Castiel off. He let the angel sink in and wrap his arms around him, even patted Castiel's back a few times before it started to get awkward.

"I, uhh…love you too, man, but…you're kinda hugging the arm that was _stabbed_."

Castiel made a noise that might have been a sniffle and pulled away, frowning. "My apologies. I…am just very pleased you will not become permanent residents of the town. I would wish that fate on no one, least of all you."

The comment sobered Dean. He nodded, trying to keep his thoughts away from Pyramid Head and how close he had been to becoming that thing.

"Thanks, Cas," said Sam, hovering by the impala door with a look that said he really didn't want to move and risk being embraced in turn.

Dean shook his head, mustering another smile before he smacked Castiel's shoulder. _Jimmy's_ shoulder. "Couldn't have done it without you," he said, hoping that both occupants of the body got the message. "So…want a lift?"

Castiel could just bamf like always, meet them wherever they were going, or maybe just make scarce for awhile until the next seal was in danger, but he looked remarkably pleased to hear Dean's suggestion. Castiel nodded, immediately vanishing, and when Dean looked to the car he was not surprised to see the angel taking up the backseat.

Dean was pretty sure he could have made some sort of 'God is my copilot' comment but was too tired to be clever.

"Get us out of here, Sammy," Dean said as he and Sam climbed into the car.

"You got it."

It was about the time they were passing over what had been a giant cliff only a few hours ago that Dean's tapedeck jumped to life, playing his Styx tape that he had been sure had been ruined. Dean didn't like to question miracles, but he couldn't help glancing back at Castiel and wondering.

As they headed away from the town to safety, Dean closed his eyes and let the song wash over him.

_America spells competition, join us in our blind ambition  
Get yourself a brand new motor car  
Someday soon we'll stop to ponder what on Earth's this spell we're under  
We made the grade and still we wonder who the hell we are_

THE END

* * *

A/N: Well, of the GOOD ending. More to come! No excuses for how late this is, it just falls out of my head for some reason. But I should be able to get the other endings up quickly. There is this GOOD ending, what I am calling the NORMAL ending, which would probably be the most fitting, the BAD ending, and...well, if you know the games you should know what the other two endings are. ;-)

Crimson


	27. BAD ENDING: Sam

A/N: Don't know why I thought the NORMAL ending was next. Oh well. Enjoy!

* * *

BAD ENDING – Sam

* * *

They had reached the impala, stalled in the road just as they had left her. As Sam went for the passenger door he heard Jimmy's voice behind them.

"Yes, Castiel."

Sam turned. Dean was there with him at the driver's side door, but Jimmy was still a few feet behind them in the ash.

_Glowing_.

"Cas!" Dean called.

But Sam wasn't as certain.

Castiel had been banished from Silent Hill, leaving Jimmy behind to get a broken nose for his troubles and something near a heart attack, no doubt, from their encounter with Lilith the _god_ and escaping Pyramid Head. The angel should not have been able to return until they had left the limits of the town.

As what was certainly _not_ Castiel walked toward them out of the ash, Sam could only look on in horror. He really hated being right.

It was Jimmy's body, still clad so simply in slacks and a dirtied white button-down, still covered in blood from his broken nose, even, but his eyes were black, so much darker than a demon's, and there were blades in his hands…just like the ones Lilith had been wielding as the god.

"Oh…Jimmy…" Sam said, backing up a step and debating if they could make it into the car, if it would even run when it hadn't before.

"What…what the _hell_?" said Dean, twitching at first before he took a step _forward_. "Cas…?"

"Dean, no," Sam said in warning.

"Such an easy boy to fool," spoke the thing that was not Castiel or Jimmy, but something with his voice overlapping a darker one that wasn't used to speaking. "He opened himself so willingly. A demon's body was…interesting, but the vessel of an _angel_." The god rolled Jimmy's shoulders as if settling into his skin more comfortably.

Lilith had retained some control when the god merged with her, but this was different. There was no Jimmy anymore. And definitely no Castiel.

Sam wanted to go to Dean, pull him back, pull him _away_, but he couldn't move. He was terrified Dean would do something foolish because of this perversion of that body, someone they considered a friend, angel or otherwise.

But to Sam's great relief, Dean was the one who called out.

"Run!"

Sam turned just as Dean did, both of them sprinting away from the car to head out of town. There was still a chance. There was always a chance, Sam told himself, even as the ash was clearing to reveal the truth. Or rather…the _edge_.

The cliff was still there, dropping down into nothing to trap them in the town. Defeating the god within Lilith had not been enough.

"Shit! _Shit_!"

"Dean, what do we do?"

"I…I don't know."

"Dean-"

"I don't know!"

The words of the god seemed to come from all around them, terrible in Castiel's deep voice. "You fail to realize what you lost the moment you entered this town," it said.

Sam didn't want to turn around. He didn't want to see _Cas_ with those awful eyes. It was legitimate, paralyzing fear he was feeling, something he was rarely used to as a hunter. He wasn't allowed to feel fear when he often had to play the part of the hero.

But this fear made Sam contemplate for one awful moment…stepping off the ledge.

"We stopped you!" Dean whirled around, shouting and _shaking_ for how much he was trying to remain firm and grounded. "We saved the seal! We won!"

"You say that as if you expect there to be rules. And there _are_," said the god.

Sam saw how close it was when he turned around – finally – and had to step _closer_ to the damn thing for fear of tipping backwards. The body of Jimmy was only a few arm lengths away.

"You belonged to the town the moment you crossed over. All you did before was kill one simple form and injure a useless demon. You prevented the breaking of a seal, yes, but you did _not_ stop me."

Sam didn't understand. He assumed the seal was all this was, all this really meant, but clearly the god of Silent Hill was part of something more.

They were trapped. They didn't have any weapons. They were sore, wounded, and tired. The god had Castiel's body and blades in its hands.

It was over.

So Sam didn't understand at first when nothing happened. The god didn't attack them. It didn't lunge forward with its blades or push them off the cliff into the abyss. It turned and looked at _Dean_ just as a figure began to appear at its side from out of the ash.

"The town limits you now, but it will grow. We will grow. And _you_…are already so much a part of it, Dean."

Sam didn't miss the way Dean flinched to hear that and be addressed so familiarly, even with his own shortness of breath at the sight of _Pyramid Head_ suddenly there at the god's side like some horrible bodyguard. He was a monstrous thing, oversized, menacing, and Sam hated how much he could still see _Dean_ somehow hiding inside, some part of Dean that was part of that…_thing_.

"No," Sam said, even as he thought that. He turned to look at his brother, beseeching. "It isn't you, Dean. It's something you could have been, but you're stronger than that. We can run, Dean. Let's just _run_." Because there was no other option, and even running would do them little good.

But Dean didn't look at Sam. He was standing there staring at the thing that was and was not him with all the fight drawn out of his face.

"Dean…"

"Come," said the god, with Castiel's face and voice and a beckoning hand.

Pyramid Head stepped forward, _toward_ them, and Sam jerked to move, to run as he had said. But he froze when he saw what the creature was holding, lifting up in offering to Dean not his sword…but another pyramid shaped helmet.

"_Dean_," Sam said again.

And Dean _smiled_, but it wasn't like before when he had found some sense of himself to fight back, this was that same wicked, awful smile as when he had looked at Sam and said, "I liked to use knives."

Sam shivered to his bones.

Dean took the offered helmet, the other Pyramid Head instantly vanishing and leaving its sword to clatter to the ground for Dean to retrieve. Dean still looked like Dean despite the helmet in his hands, even when he tilted his head finally to look at Sam, but everything had changed.

Everything was _wrong_.

"Well," Dean said with an unapologetic shrug, lifting the helmet to set it in place, "If you can't beat 'em."

THE END

* * *

A/N: And onto the NORMAL ending and additional endings soon! :-) Sam really got the shaft in this one, didn't he? Good guess from Elizabeth Newforest on the god pretending to be Cas! This was also an ode to the BAD ending of Silent Hill Homecoming.

~Crimson


	28. BUNNY ENDING: Dean

A/N: This is dedicated to the ever-talented deangirl1 here on FF, and her now older but epic drabble series, "Some You Can Save" about Dean and Alec the bunny that you can find in my Faves. :-) Also a parody of the Silent Hill 2 'Dog Ending'. I couldn't resist.

* * *

BUNNY ENDING - Dean

* * *

They had reached the impala, perfect and beautiful just as they had left her. As Dean went for the door he heard Jimmy's voice behind him.

"Yes, Castiel."

Dean whipped back around. Sam was there with him at the passenger door, but Jimmy was a few feet behind them in the ash.

_Glowing_.

"Cas!"

Dean raced forward, certain that if Castiel had returned to them it must mean they were saved. But when he reached the glowing form of what he thought would be the angel, there was nothing. Jimmy had vanished.

Sam caught up to him, standing equally stunned as he stared at where Jimmy had been.

"What happened?" said Sam, "Where did he go? Did Cas leave us?"

"I don't know," said Dean. He couldn't believe Castiel would return for Jimmy and then just leave.

"What's that?" said Sam, looking off the road into the distance.

Dean turned. A small building was drifting in and out of view as the clouds of ash moved passed it. He didn't remember anything being there before.

The brothers moved for the building cautiously. Castiel's disappearance accompanied by the sudden materialization of this small structure was too unsettling. Part of Dean wanted to head back to the Impala and just go, but they had to know. They couldn't risk that something might have happened to the angel.

Sam pressed his ear to the door when they reached the building. It had no windows, no discernable features, and stood about the size of a shack, and yet it looked modern, completely new.

"I don't hear anything," Sam said.

Dean wished they had some sort of weapons on them, but trusted that at least there couldn't be more than one person, or more than one _creature _that was very large if it fit inside such a small building. He took hold of the doorknob and found it unlocked as he pushed it open.

Surveillance computers and equipment covered the entirety of the small building, blinking at them with screens showing areas of all of Silent Hill. Dean stared at first, entranced by the technology, but then his gaze turned to the lone chair in the room and he dropped to his knees in disbelief.

"It was all..._you_?"

Dean was sure he was losing his mind. On top of the chair wearing what looked like a tiny headset...was a small fluffy bunny.

THE END

* * *

A/N: Ahahaha! Seriously, you can YouTube the 'Dog Ending'. I decided it made more send to do these silly endings first and then leave you with the NORMAL ending last.

~Crimson


	29. UFO ENDING: Castiel

UFO ENDING - Castiel

* * *

Sam and Dean had reached the impala, stalled in the road just as they had left her. They each paused at their doors when Jimmy spoke.

"Yes, Castiel."

Jimmy's body was still a ways away from Sam and Dean when Castiel took him. It was easier than it had been the last time, when Silent Hill still held so much power over him. This time Castiel settled into the familiar skin gladly, comfortably and opened his eyes, humming with renewed power.

_Glowing_.

"Cas!"

Castiel was smiling as he stepped out of the ash toward Sam and Dean, so pleased that they had managed to defeat Lilith and the god and everything had turned out okay. The brothers were smiling too as Castiel approached, moving away from the Impala to greet him with such relief in both their expressions at his return.

The light that broke the sky above was brighter than Castiel's had been, so sudden, like a spotlight shining down on Sam and Dean from Heaven itself. Only when Castiel looked up, there was no angelic being or sign from the Father.

"You gotta be fucking kidding me," Dean grumbled, even as he and Sam were swept away, taken by light itself up into the floating saucer above.

Castiel could only stare as the UFO soared off into the sky with Sam and Dean inside.

"Huh."

THE END

* * *

A/N: This is also iconic Silent Hill. More inspired by the Homecoming version than the Silent Hill 2 version.

~Crimson


	30. NORMAL ENDING: Castiel

NORMAL ENDING - Castiel

* * *

Sam and Dean had reached the impala, stalled in the road just as they had left her. They each paused at their doors when Jimmy spoke.

"Yes, Castiel."

Jimmy's body was still a ways away from Sam and Dean when Castiel took him. It was easier than it had been the last time, when Silent Hill still held so much power over him. This time Castiel settled into the familiar skin gladly, comfortably and opened his eyes, humming with renewed power.

_Glowing_.

"Cas!"

Castiel had been banished from Silent Hill, leaving Jimmy behind to get a broken nose for his troubles and something near a heart attack, no doubt, from their encounter with Lilith the _god_ and escaping Pyramid Head. But with the god defeated the town had returned to its equilibrium, enough that Castiel was able to return and heal Jimmy properly. Jimmy had shed blood in the town, but at least he was still free.

Unlike Sam and Dean.

Dean's expression was one of awe when Castiel stepped out of the ash, Sam somewhat more skeptical and then relieved to see that the angel had returned to the form they were used to, free of injury or blood, and once again wearing a suit and trench coat and a loose tie.

"What's wrong?" said Sam, reading Castiel more easily than Dean, since Dean seemed caught up in the sheer relief of seeing Castiel again.

Castiel was warmed by the sentiment, but could not smile in turn, and soon Dean's smile had vanished too. "It is time I told you the truth, what I could not tell you before for fear you would endanger yourselves or the seal to hear it. Please…forgive me."

"Cas…?" Dean prompted, frowning now, brow furrowed as he took a few slow steps forward.

Castiel turned away, staring at the dirt in the road. The road that had led them here.

To this end.

"The town is cursed. To even enter is…a death sentence, whether drawn here or a willing occupant. It has been that way for many decades. The road is often hidden, a paradox, appearing only when it is sought out or seeking a close enough victim."

"_Cas_," Dean said more firmly, because Castiel was stalling. Of course he was.

Castiel sighed. "You were in an accident when you crossed the city limits. You remember?"

"Yeah," said Sam, "We were out for a couple minutes."

Tense, unsure of how they were going to react, Castiel forced his gaze to lift and meet the eyes of the brothers'. He owed them that. "No, Sam," he said.

"No, we didn't crash?" said Dean.

"You didn't survive," said Castiel, and passed his hand over the Impala, disrupting the illusion so that Sam and Dean could see the truth.

Their bodies were still inside the car. Their real bodies. Sam's head was crashed against the side window, streaking it with blood and gore, his eyes glazed but half open, and Dean had been slammed forward into the steering wheel, hiding what had to be a horrifically damaged face. They were still, frozen, not yet rotting since so little time had passed, almost as if the accident had just happened.

Sam stumbled away from the car, pale faced and staring wide. Dean's expression was harder to read, his face half hidden from Castiel with how he was turned. But Castiel saw Dean's hands start to shake before he formed them into fists.

"You are not the first to be taken by this town," Castiel said, looking around at the other vehicles that had come into view when he lifted the illusion.

The road around them was covered in cars and trucks and other vehicles, and all along the sides into the ditch. There were dozens of them. All with varyingly decayed bodies inside.

Sam stumbled again, trying to get away from a truck that was suddenly right behind him with a particularly gruesome corpse, only to hit the door of the Impala, _his_ door, with _his_ dead body inside. He spun around and started backing down the road closer to Castiel and Dean.

"What is this…?" Sam said, "How did this happen. All these people…"

"And us," said Dean, his voice tight, controlled.

"Anyone who enters the town is already dead," said Castiel, "Aaron was as well, and Jonah, and Charlie. Now they are part of the town. Jimmy is the only exception, because he was brought here by me, not pulled in by the town or caught in an accident along the road. If he had died here, he would be trapped as well, but you kept him safe. Thank you."

"What do you mean trapped as well," said Dean, "We're trapped? We can't leave?"

"You can now, but only as spirits, and I believe you already know what happens to spirits."

Sam looked almost entirely white now, the shock of it, Castiel imagined, since Sam and Dean had both been prepared for death, given their profession. But for it to sneak up on them like this, like a trick, Castiel understood the distress. He did. He felt it too, for their sake's.

"I will not leave you to the town or to the earth," Castiel said, stepping closer, wanting to comfort them however fleetingly, "I can take you from here. The town is weak enough now and you survived your trials. I can bring you to Heaven if that is what you wish."

"And then what?" said Dean. "What happens to Silent Hill? Does it disappear?"

"The town will remain. It's power overall is too great."

"So other people will end up like us?" said Sam, "Like Charlie and Aaron and Jonah? The seal is safe but the god can just try again?"

Castiel looked back at the road. He knew what they were both thinking. It was unfair. But Silent Hill was more than just a seal, it was a living, breathing part of Hell set on Earth. He knew of no way to truly stop it. Not forever.

The sound of movement on the pavement made Castiel look up again. Dean was moving around to the back of the Impala, going for the trunk. He propped it open and started rummaging through its contents. Sam moved to join him.

In a blink of movement, Castiel was behind them both, staring at the inside of the trunk as Dean gathered new weapons and extra ammo.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm not going out like this," Dean said, "No hanging up the towel, 'well at least it was a good ride' bullshit. This place thinks it can beat me? Then I'm going to figure out how to beat _it_."

"But Dean," Castiel pleaded, frowning when Sam started to follow suit with his brother, "The rules remain the same for you. Charlie, Aaron, and Jonah will be new creatures like the ones you have seen before. If you die here the same would happen to you."

"But if we survive, then maybe we can save a few people, at least keep them from ending up like Charlie and the others," said Sam, "And if we're here long enough…maybe we can find a way to close this place up for good."

"_Then_ you can take us to Heaven, Cas," said Dean, "But I'm not ready to call it quits just yet."

Castiel opened his mouth to say something else, anything that might convince them that this was a fool's errand and would only end with them lost forever, but their determination was too potent. Every weapon they took, every extra bullet – their faces and resolve were set in stone.

The burns on Sam's neck and the knife wound in Dean's shoulder were still there and would have to heal naturally. Because they were spirits, Castiel could not 'heal' them. As long as they remained in Silent Hill there was a certain amount of reality to what happened to them. They would no doubt sustain other wounds as time went on. They did not need to eat or sleep, but they would feel the hunger and the exhaustion.

It would be Hell for them in time too, even if they managed to survive.

"If you are certain," Castiel said, "Give me a moment."

Sam and Dean looked back at him, puzzled by what he meant, but Castiel believed they would at least wait for him even if he could not quite explain what he intended to do.

He appeared just outside the limits of the town, passed the veil of death and ash that trapped Sam and Dean inside. They could not see him there, though in some ways he was only a few yards away from them.

It was easy to release Jimmy's body, stepping back until he was looking at the familiar form instead of residing within it.

Jimmy looked startled at first, touched his chest and his crisp and undamaged clothing, his undamaged body, until he realized Castiel was behind him. Jimmy's eyes went wide, more used to feeling Castiel's presence than seeing him.

"I do not require a physical body anymore for Silent Hill," Castiel said, "Sam and Dean will not be blinded any longer to see me, and…there are other ways if I give myself to the town."

"Give yourself to the town?" Jimmy repeated, fear plain on his face, and eyes darting around his periphery as if he feared being left right where he was.

"I am sending you home, James Novak, but I wanted you to understand why. They need me."

Jimmy looked as ready to protest as Castiel had been about to protest Sam and Dean's decision, but in the end the man held his tongue and nodded. Castiel reached out with his power to port Jimmy home, humbled to hear the man thank him as he vanished. Castiel did not think he deserved any thanks. It was Jimmy who had given the angel form, a human voice, an image that could be perceived by men that he had started to consider as also his own.

And so with the town's help, help it was more than willing to give for how much power it drained from Castiel, he took the form of Jimmy again, wholly as himself.

Dean noticed his return first. The brothers were finished arming themselves and were closing up the car for their return to town. Castiel couldn't help a moment of fear that his form, however changed, would be painful for Dean to look at, but Dean just smiled.

"Cas?" he said, like he wasn't sure, "Am I crazy or…is it only you in there?"

Castiel was not surprised that Dean could tell the difference even though at a glance he looked just as he had when he was with Jimmy, though he had decided against forming the image of the same clothing beyond the slacks and button-down.

"Wait…only you?" repeated Sam, "You mean that's not Jimmy's body? You let him go." Sam said the last of it as realization more than another question.

"I will be at just as great a risk as you, but there is no need to put James at risk as well."

"You sure you want to do this?" Dean asked, even as he was handing Castiel a gun.

Castiel took the weapon gladly. "It is already done," he said.

Dean grinned at Castiel as they headed back into town, fully armed, _together_. Any consequences after that would be worth it.

THE END

* * *

A/N: For real this time. :-) So I call this the NORMAL ending because this is how I saw the fic ending in the beginning before I decided to do multiples like in the games. What's great is you can pick any of the endings as the true one for you, even the silly ones.

Thanks all for putting up with how slow I was on this, but thank you also for yelling at me occasionally to come back to this, because now it is DONE, and I can get back to working on new things. Love you all, and as always see you next ficcie!

~Crimson


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